m\^ 


JUN  17  1905   * 


BV  1520  .P4  1904 
Peloubet,  F.  N.  1831-1920 
The  front  line  of  the  Sunday 
school  movement 


The  Front  Line 

of  the 

Sunday  School  Movement 

THE   LINE  OF  THE  VANGUARD  OF  SUNDAY 

SCHOOL  PROGRESS,  WITH  A  GLIMPSE 

OF  IDEALS  BEYOND 

Rev.  F.  N.  PELOUBET,  D.D. 

AUTHOR  OF   *' SELECT  NOTES  ON  THE  INTERNATIONAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL 

LESSONS,"     **  teachers'    COMMENTARIES,"    AND    **  SUGGESTIVE 

ILLUSTRATIONS  ON  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT,"    ETC. 


W.   A.   WILDE    COMPANY 
BOSTON  .    .  AND  .    .  CHICAGO 


COPYRIGHT,   1904 
By  W.  a.  WILDE  COMPANY 

All  rights  reserved 


THE  FRONT   LINE  OF  THE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 


Entered   at   Stationers'   Hall,   London 


FOREWORD 

When  my  long-time  friend  the  president  of  Bangor 
Theological  Seminary  requested  me  to  give  a  course  of 
Lectures  on  the  Sunday  School  to  the  students,  two  rea- 
sons were  especially  influential  in  deciding  me  to  accept 
his  invitation. 

The  first  was  a  desire  to  express  in  some  degree  the 
gratitude  I  owe  to  this  Seminary  for  the  training  I  re- 
ceived at  its  hands.  Not  the  least  of  the  providential 
blessings  which  have  come  unexpectedly  into  my  life  was 
the  loving  guidance  which  brought  me  to  Bangor  and  its 
Theological  Seminary. 

I  congratulate  the  Seminary  for  its  high  ideals,  for 
setting  them  before  the  students  and  saying  :  "•  There  is 
the  portrait  of  the  minister  whom  the  churches  need,  and 
whom  they  want.  He  stands  continually  before  you  — 
study  him  ;  set  your  faces  in  that  direction  ;  the  whole 
training  of  the  seminary  course  is  to  help  you  to  become 
that  man." 

I  congratulate  the  students  on  their  privilege  of  enter- 
ing the  ministry. 

The  greatest  joy  a  life-work  can  bring  belongs  to  the 
Preacher  who  preaches  the  Gospel  because  he  loves  the 
Gospel,  loves  its  Giver,  and  loves  his  fellow-men. 

The  greatest  joy  of  the  Preacher  is  that,  like  his  Master, 
he  can  also  be  a  Teacher. 

8 


4  THE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL   MOVEMENT 

The  greatest  joy  of  the  Teacher  lies  in  the  teaching 
of  youth. 

The  other  reason  Avas  a  desire  to  express  in  book  form 
some  things  that  lay  upon  my  heart. 

One  of  the  largest  elements  in  the  ideal  of  the  Preacher, 
as  of  the  Teacher,  is  the  shepherding  of  the  lambs  of 
the  flock  ;  and  by  learning  how  to  shepherd  the  lambs 
he  learns  how  to  shepherd  the  whole  flock.  It  has  been 
said  that  if  you  convert  an  adult  you  convert  a  unit  ;  but 
if  you  convert  a  child  you  convert  a  multiplication  table  ; 
that  the  star  of  Bethlehem,  the  star  of  hope,  still  stands 
over  the  Child  and  the  Home  ;  that  "  man  was  the  conun- 
drum of  the  eighteenth  century,  woman  the  conundrum 
of  the  nineteenth  century,"  but  the  problem  of  the  twen- 
tieth century  is  the  child. 

"  Columbus,"  said  Chauncey  Depew,  "  was  a  dreamer, 
but  he  dreamt  of  new  worlds.  He  was  admiral  of  the 
ocean  because  he  was  made  Christopher  Columbus  to  carry 
Christ  across  the  sea."  Columbus  found  the  new  world 
of  which  he  dreamed  ;  and  it  is  through  the  child  —  the 
child  in  the  Home,  the  child  in  the  Sunday  School,  the 
child  in  the  Church,  that  we  whose  work  it  is  to  be 
Christophers,  bearers  of  the  Christ  to  the  children,  shall 
find  the  new  earth  and  new  heavens  of  John's  apocalyptic 
vision. 

One  of  the  chief  dangers  of  the  scholarly  temperament 
as  distinguished  from  the  teaching  temperament,  and  of 
young  ministers  fresh  from  their  seminary  studies,  lies 
in  the  living,  moving,  and  having  their  being  in  a  differ- 
ent atmosphere  from  that  in  which  their  people  live  and 
move  and  have  their  being  ;  with  different  subjects  of 
intellectual  interest,  seen  from  different  standpoints  and 


FOREWORD  5 

with  a  different  terminology.  Their  sermons  are  not,  as 
is  sometimes  said,  "  over  the  heads  of  the  people  "  ;  they 
are  simply  one  side  of  them,  outside  of  their  sphere  of 
interest  and  thought,  on  another  plane,  and  therefore  inef- 
fective. Thus  Ian  Maclaren  in  the  British  Weekly  describes 
"  one  of  the  chief  futilities  of  the  pulpit,  —  preaching  on 
academic  subjects,  which  interest  the  preacher  very  much 
and  about  which  the  people  do  not  care  one  brass  pin,  or 
wearying  himself  with  vain  controversies  which  he  thinks 
are  most  exciting,  but  which  bore  the  people  to  death." 

There  is  not  the  slightest  danger  of  being  too  learned 
or  too  intellectual.  The  preacher,  as  the  teacher,  must 
gain  all  the  knowledge  he  can,  fill  his  treasure-house  with 
things  new  and  old,  search  every  realm  of  thought  for  the 
very  best,  have  the  holiest  and  highest  experiences,  see  the 
loftiest  ideals  ;  but  his  real  business  is  to  bring  these  things 
into  contact  with  the  daily  life  of  his  people,  translate  them 
into  their  vernacular,  and  adapt  them  to  their  needs.  The 
choice  little  volume  of  Patterson  Du  Bois  on  the  Point  of 
Contact  in  Teaching  is  equally  good  for  the  preacher  and 
the  teacher. 

Now  the  children  are  among  the  best  means  of  getting 
at  this  "point  of  contact,"  through  the  Sunday  School, 
through  the  Christian  Endeavor  Societies,  Epworth 
Leagues,  Young  People's  Unions,  the  Pastor's  Class,  the 
Home  ;  just  as  it  has  been  said  that  the  "  Kindergarten 
is  the  leaven  that  has  been  transforming  all  elementary 
education." 

"  The  science  of  the  century  kneels  by  the  cradle  of  the  child." 
"  And  a  little  child  shall  lead  them." 

If  I  were  just  entering  upon  my  ministerial  work,  I 
would  as  a  rule  go  to  the  Sunday   School,  and   remain 


6  THE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL   MOVEMENT 

through  the  session  ;  I  would  teach  the  classes  of  chil- 
dren rather  than  adult  Bible  classes  ;  I  would  not  usu- 
ally become  the  regular  teacher  of  any  one  class,  but 
would  be  a  substitute  teacher,  teaching  every  class  in  the 
school  as  opportunity  offered,  thus  becoming  acquainted 
with  every  scholar  in  the  most  helpful  way. 

As  I  now  look  back  over  my  uneventful  life,  more  and 
more  clearly  does  the  Sunday  School  Work  flow  through- 
out its  whole  length  like  a  river  of  light.  Its  tiniest  rill 
in  the  mists  of  years  gone  by  I  still  see  in  one  of  the 
earliest  pictures  my  memory  holds,  as  I  behold  myself  a 
little  boy  of  four  years  sitting  beside  my  father,  while  he 
taught  a  class  of  young  men  in  the  old  Brick  Church  in 
New  York  City. 

One  of  nine  children,  brought  up  in  an  atmosphere 
intensely  religious,  literary  and  educational,  both  theoreti- 
cal and  practical,  with  a  mother  who  had  a  gift  for  telling 
Bible  stories,  with  plenty  of  manual  training  in  my  father's 
factory  and  garden,  with  Bible  reading  and  prayer  five 
times  a  day,  with  children  always  in  my  own  family  even 
till  to-day,  there  has  been  at  least  an  opportunity  of  know- 
ing something  about  both  children  and  the  Bible. 

Then  I  had  some  of  the  best  academy  teachers  boys 
could  enjoy,  some  experience  in  teaching  in  a  boys'  school 
and  as  school  committee  in  village  schools  for  many 
years. 

Always  teaching  in  the  Sunday  School,  at  times  teach- 
ing the  same  lesson  three  or  four  times  in  a  week  to  old 
and  young,  with  growing  Sunday  Schools  in  each  parish, 
where  the  authorities  permitted  me  to  experiment  freely, 
I  at  length  came  to  the  time,  twenty  years  ago,  when  I 
was  compelled  to  make  a  choice  between  being  the  pastor 


FOREWORD  7 

of  a  single  church,  or  of  giving  myself  up  wholly  to  work 
for  the  Sunday  School. 

Since  then  that  has  been  my  life's  work  and  joy.  At 
home  and  abroad,  through  books  and  observation,  through 
continual  practice  in  teaching,  through  a  study  of  every 
variety  of  school  within  my  reach,  through  an  unusual  op- 
portunity for  acquaintance  with  Bible  scholars  and  secular 
educators,  I  have  tried  with  open  mind  and  eyes  to  learn 
the  best  things  for  the  Sunday  School.  The  work  itself 
has  been  my  "Schools  and  Schoolmasters."  I  have  tried 
to  put  in  practice  the  theories  I  have  held,  unlike  a  good 
friend  of  mine  who  kept  his  watch  with  scientific  exact- 
ness to  the  second,  but  was  never  known  to  be  on  time. 

Therefore,  what  I  bring  in  these  lectures  is  peculiarly 
the  outgrowth  of  experience  gained  through  long  years  of 
study  and  observation  and  never  ending  toil.  The  book 
is  almost  an  autobiography  of  one  whose  life  has  been 
spent  in  slowly  climbing  toward  ideals  not  yet  realized, 
and  who  is  still  climbing  toward  the  distant  goal. 

No  one  can  be  more  conscious  than  myself  of  how  im- 
perfect are  the  results,  of  what  better  things  are  near  at 
hand,  of  the  fact  that  all  the  results  here  given  are  but 
the  lower  steps  of  the  golden  stairway  reaching  into  shin- 
ing clouds  which  hide  the  unknown  heights.     May  you 

"  read  between  the  lines 
The  finer  grace  of  unfulfilled  designs." 


"Brethren,  I  count  not  myself  yet  to  have  apprehended,  but  one 
thing  I  do,  forgetting  the  things  which  are  behind,  and  stretching- 
forward  to  the  things  which  are  before,  I  press  on  toward  the  goal 
unto  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus." 


"  Domine  Deus,  quaecumque  dixi  de  Tuo,  agnoscant  et  tui.     Si  qua 
de  meo,  et  Tu  ignosce  et  tui." 


"Ta  TTaBrjfiaTa  fxaOrjfxaTa. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

FOREWORD 3 

CHAPTER 

I.    THE  FRONT  LINE 11 

II.    A    BIRD'S-EYE    VIEW    OF    SOME    OF    THE    STRATEGIC 

POINTS  OF  THE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL  FRONT  LINE        .      24 

III.  THE  TEACHER  AND  HIS  CLASS 47 

IV.  HOW    CAN    BUSINESS    MEN    AND    BUSY    WOMEN    BEST 

PREPARE    THEIR  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  LESSON  ?      .        .      70 
V.    TEACHER-TRAINING,    "AN  EDUCATION  FOR   THE  EDU- 
CATOR"         90 

VI.    A  STUDY  IN  GRADING 125 

VII.    SUNDAY  SCHOOL  IGNORANCE  OF  THE  BIBLE,  AND  ITS 

REMEDY      .          . 159 

VIII.    SIGNS    OF    GROWING    INTEREST   IN    BIBLE  STUDY  EX- 
PRESSED IN  ORGANIZATIONS  FOR  THAT  PURPOSE    .     179 
IX.    METHODS  OF  BIBLE  STUDY  FOR  THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

THE  HISTORIC  METHOD 195 

X.    BIBLE    STUDY    FOR    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL.      PART    II. 

VARIOUS  METHODS .    220 

XI.     SUNDAY   SCHOOL  ROOMS   AND  EQUIPMENT        .        .        .252 


9 


THE   FRONT   LINE   OF   THE   SUNDAY 
SCHOOL    MOVEMENT 


THE  FRONT  LINE 

The  Front  Line  of  the  Sunday  School  is  the  line  formed 
by  the  best  things  which  in  its  every  department  have 
been  tried  and  proved  successful.  Not  the  best  untested 
theories,  not  the  loftiest  millennial  imaginings,  not  the 
brightest  ideals  for  ideal  circumstances,  but  the  best 
things  actually  attained  in  some  schools,  the  brightest 
ideals  that  have  been  made  real,  the  actual  encampments 
of  the  vanguard  of  the  Sunday  School  army. 

The  work  of  the  Sunday  School  is  carried  on  under  an 
almost  infinite  variety  of  circumstances,  —  in  city  and  in 
country,  in  large  schools  and  in  small  schools  ;  in  schools 
with  every  advantage  money  and  talent  can  give,  and  in 
schools  where  poverty,  ignorance,  neglect,  and  opposition 
place  every  conceivable  obstacle  in  the  way  ;  with  every 
variety  of  talent,  with  different  ideals,  with  diverse  prob- 
lems worked  out  with  differing  results,  with  emphasis  on 
different  methods,  some  having  attained  to  great  profi- 
ciency  in   one    direction,  others   in   another.     All   these 

11 


12  THE   FRONT   LINP: 

inultipliecl  togetlier  in  geometrical  progression  produce  an 
endless  variety  of  methods  and  results.  The  best  of  all 
these  things  form  the  Front  Line. 

The  greatest  need  of  the  Sunday  Schools  as  a  whole  is 
not  the  invention  of  new  methods  and  theories,  neces- 
sary as  these  are,  but  that  they  should  all  be  made  to 
see  the  Front  Line,  and  that  they  should  all  begin  their 
march  up  toward  it.  They  often  do  not  move  on  be- 
cause they  do  not  know  the  existence  of  good  things 
toward  which  they  might  go,  and  which  are  easily  within 
their  reach. 

Almost  every  Sunday  School  I  visit  has  worked  out 
something  of  value.  But  almost  without  exception  there 
are  things  which  other  schools  could  teach  them  to  their 
advantage  if  only  they  had  their  eyes  open  to  the  Front 
Line  along  the  whole  horizon. 

A  bright  and  most  devoted  superintendent  of  one  of 
the  largest  and  best-equipped  Sunday  Schools  in  London 
told  me  that  he  had  been  in  that  school  as  scholar,  teacher, 
or  superintendent  almost  all  his  life,  and  had  rarely  seen 
another  school.  His  school,  admirable  as  it  was,  told  the 
same  story.  I  have  heard  of  other  superintendents  nearer 
home  who  have  been  equally  faithful,  whose  praises  have 
been  sung  to  the  same  tune.  While  this  may  be  safe  for 
some  men  of  remarkable  genius,  yet  for  the  great  body  of 
superintendents  it  is  a  knell  rather  than  a  paean.  How 
are  they  to  know  what  is  best  for  their  own  schools  unless 
they  see  what  others  have  done  ;  and  how  are  they  to 
train  up  successors  unless  they  sometimes  throw  the 
burden  on  their  assistants.  The  prayer  for  them  and  for 
most  Sunday  Schools  is  that  of  Elisha  at  Dothan  :  Lord, 
open  Thou  their  eyes,  that  they  may  see  — 


THE   FRONT   LINE  13 

"  See  the  helpers  God  has  sent, 

And  how  Life's  rugged  mountain  side 
Is  white  with  many  an  angel  tent." 

The  Power  of  the  Front  Line  is  admirably  illustrated 
by  the  Christian  Endeavor  Movement.  Before  that  move- 
ment was  begun,  the  training  of  the  young  people  in  the 
prayer  meeting  and  church  work  was  done  chiefly  by  the 
individual  pastor  with  little  help  from  the  experience  of 
others.  I  well  remember  what  hard  work  it  was.  Now 
every  one,  whether  belonging  to  the  Christian  Endeavor, 
Epworth  League,  or  the  Union,  or  not,  can  have  help  from 
the  experience  of  thousands  of  others  in  every  part  of  the 
land.  Books  and  papers  reporting  these  experiences  are  an 
inspiration  to  better  things  ;  and  the  fact  that  they  have 
been  tried  and  proved  removes  many  objections  which 
would  otherwise  obstruct  their  adoption. 

The  most  successful  way  of  introducing  a  new  measure 
is  to  be  able  to  say,  "  This  has  been  tried  in  place  after 
place,  and  proved  a  success."  I  remember  well  when 
I  first  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  Eiffel  tower,  and  gazing 
up  the  dizzy  height  saw  the  elevators  running  up  and  down, 
a  thousand  feet,  how  I  hesitated  whether  to  trust  myself 
to  them.  But  wlien  I  learned  that  they  had  already  car- 
ried thirteen  million  passengers  without  a  single  accident, 
I  said  to  myself,  "  This  has  been  tested  and  proved  thirteen 
million  times ;  I  will  trust  myself  to  it  without  a  question." 

Mr.  Bryce,  in  his  fair-minded  and  illuminating  book  on 
America,  states  that  the  best  things  in  that  wonderful 
and  noble  instrument,  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  are  the  ones  which  had  been  previously  tried  in 
the  state  constitutions,  and  proved  good  by  the  test  of 
experience  ;  while  the  least  valuable  portions  were  those 


14  THE   FKONT   LINE 

that  were  thought  out  for  the  first  time  at  the  assembly 
for  the  making  of  the  constitution. 

According  to  William  T.  Harris,  United  States  Com- 
missioner of  Education :  — 

^'  It  is  only  in  the  history  of  education  that  one  sees  the 
outcome  of  reforms,  and  can  understand  their  strong  and 
weak  points.  Nearly  all  present  practices  that  have  be- 
come established  have  a  history  of  trials  and  experiments, 
and  one  who  studies  their  growth  in  the  past  is  taking  the 
best  way  to  discover  what  reforms  should  be  taken  up  as 
the  next  best  step  in  the  present. 

"  It  is  not  likely  that  more  than  five  per  cent  of  new 
experiments  initiated  in  education  will  succeed  in  estab- 
lishing themselves  as  of  value  to  educational  methods  ; 
the  remaining  ninety-five  per  cent  will  fail.  It  is  so  in 
new  business  ventures  ;  .  .  .  but  the  five  per  cent  of  new 
experiments  which  succeed  may  add,  and  do  add,  enough 
of  value  to  compensate  for  the  waste  involved  in  the 
other  ninety-five  per  cent  of  experiments.  Even  if  we 
grant  that  of  all  criticisms  and  suggestions  of  reformers, 
only  five  per  cent  bring  fruit  in  the  form  of  experiments  that 
prove  anything  either  positive  or  negative,  it  still  remains 
an  important  fact  that  criticisms  and  new  experiments 
keep  alive  the  work  of  education,  just  as  in  other  matters." 

The  Front  Line  is  the  record  of  this  five  per  cent  result- 
ant from  all  experiments  in  improving  the  Sunday  School. 
It  is  like  the  small  Isaian  "  Remnant "  sifted  from  the 
Jewish  nation  by  conflict  and  trial,  but  which  in  the  end 
was  the  means  of  realizing  his  prophecies  of  the  New 
Nation. 

Cross-fertilization.  —  In  that  most  enlightening  book. 
The  Ideal  School^  by  Preston  W.   Search,  there  is  much 


THE   FRONT   LINE  15 

that  is  peculiarly  applicable  to  those  who  are  seeking  the 
Ideal  Sunday  School. 

He  says  :  — 

"There  is  scarcely  a  single  feature  of  all  these  ideals 
presented,  no  matter  how  inaccessible  they  may  seem, 
which  is  not  supported  by  something  tested  and  proven, 
to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  in  the  experience  of  Schools. 
If  these  fragments  of  success  can  be  found,  no  matter  how 
scattered,  then  an  Ideal  Scliool  is  the  direct  product  of 
their  coordination  in  a  single  system. 

"  The  ideal  School  will  never  be  the  product  of  any 
one  person,  nor  will  be  of  any  one  system,  nor  any  one 
point  of  view." 

For  as  Mr.  Search  says  again,  "  It  is  cross-fertilization 
and  not  grafting  which  has  given  us  our  richest  varieties 
of  fruits  and  flowers." 

This  cross-fertilization,  which  has  had  such  a  develop- 
ment within  the  last  few  years  as  almost  to  revolutionize 
the  progress  of  horticulture,  is  the  method  of  the  Front 
Line. 

Great  things  have  already  been  attained  in  various 
lines  and  various  places,  much  more  than  is  easily  realized 
by  those  who  are  in  the  midst  of  the  process,  who  do  not 
remember  the  contrast  between  the  best  of  the  old  and 
the  best  of  the  new  in  the  midst  of  the  conflict  of  the 
slowly  dawning  day. 

" ' Oh,  where  is  the  sea? '  the  fishes  cried, 
As  they  swam  the  crystal  clearness  through. 
'  We've  heard  from  of  old  of  the  ocean's  tide, 
And  we  long  to  look  on  the  waters  blue. 
The  wise  ones  speak  of  the  infinite  sea ; 
Oh,  who  can  tell  us  if  such  there  be  ? '  " 


16  THE  FRONT  LINE 

This  is  almost  universally  the  case  in  great  moral  and 
intellectual  progress.  It  was  for  this  reason  the  disciples 
were  unable  to  recognize  the  "  times  and  seasons "  of 
the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  So  Green's  Sliort 
History  of  the  English  People  shows  that  while  in  the 
Wars  of  the  Roses  the  battles  and  contentions  of  the  two 
parties  filled  the  visible  horizon  that  made  the  records 
of  history,  there  was  going  on  unnoticed  at  the  time 
the  might}^  undercurrent  which  was  the  making  of 
England. 

The  Front  Line  is  the  best  condition  for  further  advance- 
ment. The  loftiest  mountains  do  not  rise  abruptly  from 
the  plains,  but  out  of  table-lands  and  foothills.  The  great 
literature  and  art  of  Greece,  the  brilliant  writings  of  the 
Augustan  age,  Shakespeare  and  Milton  the  great  lights 
of  the  Elizabethan  age,  the  best  things  of  the  world,  have 
not  grown  out  of  ignorant,  uncultured  ages,  but  were 
mountain  peaks  rising  out  of  intense  literary  activity, 
and  eras  of  a  revival  of  letters.  Among  a  vast  number 
of  great  and  noble  men,  they  towered  above  all,  and 
overlook  the  centuries.  What  others  did  in  the  past 
made  them  possible. 

It  is  said  that  once  the  elder  Professor  Silliman  of  Yale 
was  sitting  in  the  audience  while  his  son  was  delivering  a 
lecture,  when  an  enthusiastic  man  close  behind  him  whis- 
pered, '^  Why,  he  beats  the  old  gent."  The  "old  gent" 
turning  toward  him  whispered  in  reply.  "  He  ought  to ; 
he  stands  on  my  shoulders."  The  Present  is  so  great 
because  it  stands  on  the  shoulders  of  the  Past.  "  We  are 
heirs  of  all  the  ages." 

Renan,  not  long  before  his  death,  said,  "  I  fear  that  the 
work  of  the  Twentieth  Century  will  consist  in  taking  out 


THE   FRONT   LINE  17 

of  the  waste-basket  a  multitude  of  excellent  ideas  which 
the  Nineteenth  Century  has  heedlessly  thrown  into  it." 
That  is  true  partly  because  in  our  eagerness  after  new 
things,  we  are  apt  to  go  to  extremes  and  forget  the  other 
essentials  which  the  past  has  evolved ;  and  partly  because 
the  previous  century  had  not  climbed  high  enough  to 
make  it  possible  to  realize  its  ideals,  and  materialize  its 
visions.  According  to  Professor  Home  in  his  recent 
book  on  The  Philosophy  of  Education^  "  Progress  in 
knowledge  of  whatever  kind  must  always  come  only 
from  him  who  is  already  familiar  with  what  has  been 
done  in  his  own  field  :  In  our  universities  scholars  become 
abreast  of  their  fields,  they  thus  know  where  to  begin 
original  work,  and  so  human  knowledge  grows." 

Like  the  rower  in  a  boat,  we  look  backward  that  we  may 
go  forward. 

The  reason  therefore  for  emphasizing  the  Front  Line  is 
not  simply  because  of  its  immeasurable  advantage  to  the 
Sunday  Schools,  but  also  because  it  is  from  this  vantage- 
ground  that  the  greatest  progress  in  Sunday  School  work 
can  be  made.  The  object  lessons  of  the  best  things 
already  accomplished,  made  known  throughout  the  whole 
Sunday  School  world,  will  continually  suggest,  to  one  or 
another,  new  and  better  things,  to  be  proclaimed  to  all. 
There  will  thus  be  a  steady,  continuous,  onward  move- 
ment of  the  Front  Line. 

"  The  goal  of  yesterday  shall  become  the  starting-point 
of  to-day." 

From  these  Pisgah  heights  we  can  gaze  upon  the  Prom- 
ised Land  of  the  Sunday  School  of  the  future.  From  these 
Bethels  rises  the  dream  ladder  toward  heaven  with  the 
angels  of  grace  and  glory  upon  it,  and 


18  THE   FRONT   LINE 

"  Still,  through  our  paltry  stir  and  strife, 
Glows  down  the  washed  ideal, 
And  Longing  moulds  in  clay  what  Life 
Carves  in  the  marble  real." 

It  is  our  business  to  see  visions  and  dream  dreams,  as  it 

was  a  necessary  element  in  the  progress  of  the  early 
Church.  To  Kenan's  "At  bottom  every  ideal  is  Utopia," 
a  baseless  dream,  Martineau  replies  "  At  bottom  every  ideal 
is  an  inspiration."  And  Ruskin  says:  '' Utopianism  is 
one  of  the  Devil's  pet  words  .  .  .  whenever  you  hear 
a  man  dissuading  you  from  attempting  to  do  well  on 
the  ground  that  perfection  is  Utopian,  beware  of  that 
man." 

For  the  best  things  you  have  ever  done,  your  highest 
experiences,  your  greatest  sacrifices,  the  noblest  ecstasies 
of  love,  the  seasons  when  your  soul  like  Paul's  has  been 
lifted  to  the  third  heaven,  —  these  are  Front  Lines  of 
your  life,  keeping  before  you  the  ideals  which  are  possible 
to  you,  and  from  w^hich  you  can  see  visions  beyond. 
Revivals  of  religion,  fresh  enthusiasms  for  education  and 
for  missions,  new  devotion  to  character  and  to  Christ  and 
to  the  Kingdom  of  God,  are  for  the  Church,  as  the  greatest 
men  and  best  deeds,  the  victories  over  wrong,  the  noblest 
enthusiasms  of  righteousness,  are  for  the  country,  heights 
gained  by  some,  and  therefore  inspirations  for  all,  once 
attained  and  therefore  to  be  attained  again.  Carlyle 
was  right  when  in  his  Frederick  the  Great  he  said  : 
"  Once  risen  into  this  divine  white  heat  of  temper,  were  it 
only  for  a  season  and  not  again,  it  is  henceforth  consider- 
able through  all  its  remaining  history.  Nations  are  bene- 
fited for  ages  by  being  thrown  once  into  divine  white  heat 
in  this  manner.     And  no  nation   that  has  not  had  such 


THE   FRONT   LINE  19 

divine  paroxysms  at  any  time  is  apt  to  come  to  much." 
Revival  heights  bless  us  evermore  ;  and  when  they  have 
passed  away,  and  we  have  come  again  into  our  ordinary 
routine,  a  new  light  still  shines  on  the  daily  life,  the  level 
is  higher,  the  ideal  is  nobler. 

We  will  save  ourselves  from  many  an  hour  of  dis- 
couragement, if  we  will  keep  in  mind  Matthew  Arnold's 
separation  of  the  hour  of  insight  from  the  hours  of  labor. 

"  We  cannot  kindle  when  we  will 

The  fire  that  in  the  heart  resides ; 
The  spirit  bloweth  and  is  still, 

In  mystery  our  soul  abides  ; 
But  tasks  in  hours  of  insight  icilled 
May  he  through  hours  of  gloom  fulfilled.'* 

The  glimpses  of  the  mountain  top  will  come  only  now  and 
then  as  we  toil  up  the  rocky  slopes,  through  dark  forests, 
but  we  know  the  summits  are  there,  and  every  step  is 
bringing  us  nearer  the  goal. 

The  whole  world  has  been  inspired,  and  moved  upward 
and  onward  by  the  glorious  visions  of  Isaiah,  by  the 
ideal  of  Christ  as  well  as  by  the  atoning  power  of  his 
death,  and  by  the  pictures  of  the  New  Heavens  and  the 
New  Earth  revealed  to  John,  toward  which  the  world  is 
ever  moving  more  rapidly  as  each  century  rolls  on. 

In  lesser  degrees,  but  still  with  power,  have  the  ideals 
of  Plato's  Republic,  the  Garden  of  the  Hesperides  of  the 
Greeks,  the  New  Atlantis,  Richardson's  City  of  Health, 
and  all  ideal  pictures  of  the  Golden  Age,  helped  to  hasten 
on  the  good  time  coming. 

In  the  words  of  Maxwell,  "  No  poet's  dream  has  ever 
yet  embodied  the   climax  and  consummation  of   human 


20  THE   FRONT    LINE 

capabilities  ;  but  each  new  dream  is  a  prophecy  of  the 
future,  and  is  freshly  watering  the  seeds  of  realization. 
It  has  been  truly  said,  '  The  poetic  idealism  of  to-day  will 
be  the  prose  reality  of  to-morrow.'  " 

The  same  truth  is  expressed  in  ^Irs.  Preston's  poem  : 
"God  never  permitted  us  to  form  a  theory  too  beautiful 
for  His  power  to  make  practical." 

"  Men  take  the  pure  ideals  of  their  souls, 

And  lock  them  fast  away, 
Nor  ever  dream  that  things  so  beautiful 

Are  fit  for  every  day ; 
So,  counterfeits  pass  current  in  their  lives, 

And  stones  they  give  for  bread ; 
And  starvingly  and  fearingly  they  walk 

Through  life,  among  the  dead  ; 
Though  never  yet  was  pure  ideal 
Too  fair  for  them  to  make  the  real. 

"  Thine  early  dreams,  which  came  in  '  shapes  of  light,' 

Came,  bearing  prophecy  — 
Commissioned  sweetly  to  unfold 

Thy  possible  to  thee. 
Fear  not  to  build  thine  eyrie  in  the  heights. 

Bright  with  celestial  day ; 
And  trust  thyself  unto  thine  inmost  soul 

In  simple  faith  alway. 
And  God  shall  make  divinely  real 
The  highest  forms  of  thy  ideal." 

All  this,  applies  to  the  Sunday  School  not  only  because 
it  illustrates  a  principle  but  because  for  the  most  rapid 
progress  of  the  Sunday  School  all  agencies  for  education 
must  move  together,  create  an  atmosphere,  a  trend,  a  cur- 
rent, all  pressing  toward  the  same  great  end,  —  the  day 
school,  the  church,  the  home,  the  press,  the  young  people's 


THE   FRONT    LINE  21 

societies,  the  Christian  associations  of  the  colleges.  One 
cannot  do  its  best  except  in  cooperation  with  the  others, 
A  dead  church  cannot  long  have  a  live  Sunday  School,  for 
either  the  Sunday  School  will  join  the  dead,  or  the  church 
will  become  alive.  Interest  in  secular  education  is  sure  to 
create  interest  in  religious  education  ;  and  equally  certain, 
yea,  more  powerfully,  will  deeper  interest  in  the  religious 
life  and  education  of  the  young  impart  new  interest  to  the 
day  schools. 

One  of  the  most  hopeful  signs  of  the  times  is  that  feel- 
ing of  unrest  and  criticism  of  the  Sunday  School,  and 
dissatisfaction  with  things  as  they  are,  which  may  be  char- 
acterized by  the  motto  of  an  organization  of  men,  referred 
to  by  one  of  the  speakers  at  the  first  convention  of  the 
Religious    Education    Association,    called   The    Restless 

Club  :  — 

"  Anywhere  but  where  we  are." 

"  Nothing  could  be  worse  than  this." 

"  The  best  is  good  enough  for  me." 

Any  one  who  has  been  in  close  contact  with  educators 
and  educational  matters  during  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years, 
can  recognize  the  truth  of  the  description.  Never  before 
has  there  been  such  a  conflict  of  opinions,  such  a  storm  of 
criticism,  such  a  condemnation  of  the  established  order, 
such  a  whirl  of  new  theories,  such  a  battle  of  ideas,  such  a 
series  of  experiments.  It  seems  as  if  there  had  returned  to 
earth  the  spirit  of  the  Greek  god  Momus,  who  found  fault 
with  everything  in  heaven  above  and  the  earth  beneath, 
even  with  Venus  because  her  golden  slippers  made  so  much 
noise  when  she  walked.  Every  new  scheme  condemns  the 
old.  The  next  condemns  them  both.  "  Whatever  is  is 
wrong." 


22  THE    FRONT   LINE 

Then  we  turn  to  the  literature  and  listen  to  the  critics 
of  secular  education,  and  hear  what  is  said  about  our 
world-renowned  Day  Schools,  and  lo,  the  criticisms  of  the 
Sunday  School  are  but  a  summer  breeze  compared  with 
the  storm  hurled  against  secular  education  and  its  methods. 
It  would  not  be  fair  or  true  to  quote  the  Oriental  proverb, 
"  The  dog  barks,  but  the  caravan  passes  on,"  for  the  critics 
and  reformers  are  among  the  greatest  and  wisest  men  of 
the  age.  But  it  is  true  that  the  caravan  must  pass  on  till 
a  better  is  prepared,  the  railroad  must  continue  to  carry 
its  passengers  till  the  new  one  is  built. 

Now  the  first  thing  to  be  noted  concerning  this  state  of 
things  is,  that  it  is  apt  to  give  a  false  impression,  as  if  the 
storm-cloud  were  sweeping  away  the  whole  landscape 
instead  of  vitalizing  and  improving  it.  President  Lin- 
coln saw  the  fixed  stars  through  the  showers  of  meteors 
which  the  farmer  thought  presaged  the  end  of  all  things. 
There  has  been  and  still  is  a  wonderfully  good  work 
going  on  in  Sunday  School  and  day  school,  better  work 
and  with  greater  success  than  ever  before.  They  had 
their  part  in  making  all  the  Christian  men  and  educated 
men  in  the  countr}^  The  sun  has  spots,  some  of  them 
large  enough  to  take  in  several  worlds  as  large  as  ours, 
but  the  sun  shines  serenely  on,  bestowing  its  light  and 
heat,  creating  power  and  beauty,  as  if  no  spot  had  ever 
been  known. 

The  other  thing  to  be  noted  is,  that  all  this  restless 
criticism  means  life,  means  that  the  Sunday  School  and 
day  school  are  not  dead,  but  living,  not  standing  still,  but 
marching  side  by  side  toward  better  things.  They  are 
not  behind  the  age,  only  as  the  wind  is  behind  the  ship 
that  makes  it  go,  only  as  the  sun  is  behind  the  dawn  and 


THE   FRONT   LINE  ,23 

brings  the  clay.  They  are  in  the  vigor,  and  stir  and 
change  of  springtime  that  promise  summer  flowers  and 
autumn  fruits. 

"  They  must  upward  still  and  onward  who  would  keep   abreast  of 

truth. 
Lo,  before  us  gleam  her  camp-fires  ;  we  ourselves  must  Pilgrims  be ; 
Launch  our  Mayflower,  and  steer  boldly  through  the  desperate  winter 

sea, 
Nor  attempt  the  Future's  portal  with  the  Past's  blood-rusted  key." 


II 


A    BIRD'S-F.YE    VIEW    OF    SOME    OF    THE    STRATEGIC 
POINTS  OF  THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL   FRONT  LINE 

Before  taking  up  in  greater  detail  a  few  subjects  which 
seem  most  important  and  are  now  receiving  earnest  dis- 
cussion in  Sunday  School  circles,  I  desire  to  stand  by  your 
side  and  show  you,  as  in  a  panorama,  the  whole  long  Front 
Line  of  the  Sunday  Scliool,  the  vanguard  of  its  advancing 
army.  At  best  the  view  will  be  imperfect ;  others,  from 
different  standpoints,  will  wish  to  add  or  subtract ;  and 
the  line  is  continually  changing  so  rapidly  that  new 
tilings  have  come  within  my  vision  since  I  began  these 
lectures. 

Still  it  is  well  to  see  as  accurately  as  we  can  in  one 
bird's-eye  view  Avliat  seem  to  be  the  best  things  as  yet 
attained  by  the  Sunday  School,  adopting  as  our  own  a 
toast  given  to  Wellesley  College,  "  May  her  ideals  always 
be  just  beyond  her  grasp.'' 

In  seeking  to  bring  the  schools  up  to  the  Front  Line,  it 
is  possible  that  some  notes  from  the  log-book  of  my  experi- 
ence may  be  of  service  in  helping  the  reformer  to  avoid 
certain  rocks  on  which  more  than  one  has  been  wrecked 
or  suffered  loss. 

1.  It  is  wise  to  show  the  possible  good  to  be  attained, 
and  to  lay  but  small  emphasis  upon  the  condemnation  of 
the  past. 

24 


A  bird's-eye  view  25 

Proctor  the  astronomer,  in  his  Familiar  Science  Studies^ 
relates  the  story  of  an  Oriental  potentate  who  "  dreamt 
that  all  his  teeth  fell  out,  and  when  he  was  told  that  he 
was  to  lose  all  his  relatives,  he  slew  the  indiscreet  inter- 
preter ;  but  when  another  and  cleverer  interpreter  told 
him  that  his  dream  promised  long  life,  and  that  he  would 
survive  all  his  relatives,  he  made  the  man  who  thus  pleas- 
antly interpreted  the  omen  many  rich  and  handsome  pres- 
ents." Both  counsellors  said  the  same  thing  except  that 
one  pointed  out  the  evil  and  the  other  the  good.  And 
you  will  find  that  very  often  the  success  or  tlie  failure  of 
your  plans  for  reforming  men  or  Sunday  Schools  depends 
on  whether  you  place  your  emphasis  on  the  bad  to  be 
removed  or  on  the  good  to  be  cherished  ;  on  the  errors 
and  mistakes  of  the  past,  or  on  the  picture  of  better 
things ;  your  back  to  the  night  and  your  face  to  the 
dawn. 

2.  It  is  best  not  to  make  too  sudden  and  revolutionary- 
changes.  The  opinions  of  most  men  are  changed  as  a 
ship  reverses  its  course  by  so  large  a  circle  that  the  pas- 
sengers have  no  idea  that  they  are  sailing  in  exactly  the 
opposite  direction  from  that  in  which  they  started. 

When  I  was  expecting  to  preach  in  foreign  lands,  a  wise 
missionary  gave  me  this  good  advice,  "  Do  not  make  any 
criticisms  on  what  you  see  in  the  mission  field  for  at  least 
a  year."  That  advice  has  stood  by  me  ever  since.  It  is 
good  advice  for  every  minister  when  he  enters  upon  a  new 
field. 

3.  Be  both  conservative  and  radical,  but  have  a  clear 
idea  of  what  these  terms  really  mean  in  practical  life. 
A  conservative  is  not  one  who  merely  stands  still.  He  is 
not  a  mummy  ;  he  is  not  typified  by  Sancho  Panza  asleep 


26  THE   FKONT   LINE 

on  his  saddle,  propped  up  by  four  sticks,  while  the  robbers 
had  driven  his  beast  from  under  him.  The  conservative 
is  one  who  moves  along  the  regular  roads,  the  beaten 
paths  which  the  wise  men  of  old  have  trod,  and  he  can  go 
as  fast  as  he  will.  The  radical  is  one  who  is  seeking  out 
new  ways,  exploring  the  forests  for  better  paths,  experi- 
menting for  something  new  and  better.  And  though  the 
pathway  of  progress  is  thickly  strewn  on  either  side  with 
radical  failures,  yet  the  radicals  are  also  continually  show- 
ing us  better  ways,  and  when  they  are  found,  the  conser- 
vative walks  therein. 

4.  Another  great  secret  of  success  in  hastening  the  adop- 
tion of  better  things  is  found  in  hiding  yourself  behind 
the  cause.  Let  others  have  the  honor  while  you  do  the 
work  ;  let  others  be  the  figurehead  while  you  are  the 
unseen  screw  that  makes  the  ship  go.  There  are  those 
who  never  work  earnestly  unless  they  carry  the  flag  at 
the  head  of  the  procession  ;  let  them  carry  it,  while  you 
secretly  suggest  the  line  of  march.  Work  through  the 
constituted  authorities.  The  failure  to  do  this  has 
wrecked  many  a  good  cause.  Keep  yourself  out  of  sight. 
Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  its  righteousness,  and 
then  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you. 

In  surveying  the  Sunday  School  world  for  the  strategic 
points  in  its  front  line  Ave  would  note  :  — 

I.  That  it  is  Open-minded  to  Everything  Good.  —  It  de- 
sires to  learn,  it  is  seeking  the  best.  As  a  whole  the 
Sunday  School  does  welcome  every  experiment  and  every 
effort  to  discover  better  things,  and  bids  Godspeed  to  all 
the  prophets  who  see  the  possibilities  of  the  future,  and 
are  taking  "  advanced  steps "  toward  their  realization. 
The  learned  man  wanted  "  I  die  learning  "  for  the  epitaph 


A  bird's-eye  view  27 

on  his  tombstone.  The  Sunday  School  will  have  no  tomb- 
stone, for  its  motto  is  "  I  live  learning,"  or  in  the  words 
of  Paul  burnt  into  his  very  soul:  ''Not  that  I  have  already 
obtained,  or  am  already  made  perfect:  but  I  press  on,  if 
so  be  that  I  may  lay  hold  on  that  for  which  also  I  was  laid 
hold  on  by  Christ  Jesus.  Brethren,  I  count  not  myself 
yet  to  have  laid  hold;  but  one  thing  I  do,  forgetting 
the  things  which  are  behind,  and  stretching  forward  to 
the  things  which  are  before,  I  press  on  toward  the  goal 
unto  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus." 

II.  It  is  Well-balanced  in  its  Progress.  —  It  is  not  like 
Dickens's  Skitzlanders  in  that  strange  land,  the  peculiarity 
of  which  was  that,  while  every  person  there  was  born 
physically  perfect,  yet  at  a  certain  age  any  part  of  the 
body  which  had  not  been  used  was  lost  entirely  so  that 
nearly  every  inhabitant  was  deformed. 

The  good  Sunday  School  develops  in  every  direction ; 
it  moves  forward  in  every  line  of  progress  with  equal 
step. 

III.  It  has  One  Great  Aim:  Conversion  and  Culture  in 
the  Christian  Life  and  Character.  —  It  is  vastly  more  than 
Zoroaster's  doctrine  that  "the  one  thing  needful  is  to  do 
right."  "All  good  thoughts,  words,  and  works  lead  to 
paradise  ;  all  evil  thoughts,  words,  and  works  lead  to  hell." 
It  is  first  of  all  to  lead  the  young  to  make  their  life  choice 
of  God  and  right ;  to  inspire  them  through  the  life  of 
Christ,  through  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  through  the  Holy 
Spirit,  with  right  principles,  with  a  new  heart,  with  a  love 
to  God  with  all  the  heart,  and  a  love  for  their  neighbor  as 
for  themselves. 

Then  follows  the  training  into  the  perfect  Christian  life, 


28  THE   FRONT    LINE 

into  the  practice  of  every  virtue,  and  in  the  best  social 
service.  The  late  Professor  Davidson  conceived  of  educa- 
tion as  "  the  process  of  transforming  the  original  nature  of 
man  into  his  ideal  nature." 

And  everything  in  the  school  —  the  teacher,  the  teach- 
ing, the  devotional  exercises,  the  music,  the  reverential 
order,  the  organization,  the  giving  —  must  focus  on  this 
end  and  aim. 

IV.  It  is  a  Bible  School.  —  A  real  school  for  the  study 
of  the  Bible,  as  the  divine  means  for  attaining  the  aim  of 
the  Sunday  School. 

There  are  many  instrumentalities,  which  in  various  de- 
grees are  seeking  this  end,  but  the  Bible  as  an  educating 
force  is  the  principal  one  in  the  work  of  the  Sunday  School, 
and  should  be  aided  by  everything  that  can  illustrate  and 
impress  its  truths. 

This  means  real  study. 

It  means  a  Bible  in  every  scholar's  hands. 

It  means  the  best  methods  of  Bible  study. 

It  means  nearly  everything  in  the  Front  Line  of  the 
Sunday  School. 

V.  It  is  a  Bible  School  for  the  Whole  Church.— There  is 
a  familiar  ideal,  originating,  in  its  form,  with  Bishop 
Vincent :  — 

"  ALL  THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  ; 
"ALL  THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  IN  THE  CHURCH; 
"AND  EVERYBODY  IN  BOTH." 

Dr.  C.  R.  Blackall,  the  wise  and  efficient  editor  of  the 
Sunday  School  literature  of  the  Baptist  denomination, 
places,  on  the  title-page  of  his  capital  little  volume  Our 
Sunday  School  Work  and  how  to  do  It^  a  variation  of  this 
as  his  ideal :  — 


A  bird's-eye  view  29 

"A    HOME   SCHOOL   AND    MISSION    FOR    EVERY    BAPTIST 

CHURCH; 
"EVERY    MEMBER    OF    THE    CHURCH     IN    THE    SUNDAY 

SCHOOL   SERVICE; 
"EVERY    MEMBER    OF    THE    SCHOOL    IN    THE    CHURCH 

SERVICE  ; 
"ALL    AND    ALWAYS    FOR    JESUS    CHRIST,    OUR    LORD 

AND    KING." 

The  Sunday  School  is  the  Church  studying  the  Word  of 
God. 

The  emphasis  of  the  morning  service  is  on  the  inspirational. 

That  of  the  Sunday  School  service  is  on  the  educational. 

That  of  the  evening  service  is  on  the  evangelistic. 

The  Sunday  School  is  primarily  for  the  children.  When 
Jesus  laid  his  last  threefold  command  on  the  penitent 
Peter,  once  he  says  "Shepherd  my  sheep,"  but  twice  he 
emphasizes  the  young,  "  Feed  my  lambs,"  "  Feed  my  young 
sheep."  ^  The  church  can  do  no  better  than  to  use  the 
same  emphasis  in  its  services. 

But  there  is  danger  in  making  the  school  exclusively 
for  the  young.  I  have  heard  of  a  Parisian  lady  who  had 
found  the  elixir  of  youth,  and  by  using  a  few  drops  each 
day  had  retained  her  youthful  beauty  and  vigor.  But  her 
maid  found  the  elixir,  and,  taking  a  large  draught,  became 
a  tiny  child  like  Alice  in  Wonderland. 

The  whole  adult  membership  needs  the  Sunday  School. 
They  need  it  for  themselves ;  need  it  for  their  own  train- 
ing and  spiritual  growth ;  need  it  for  the  renovation  and 
freshness  of  life  which  contact  with  the  children  gives; 
need  it  for  its  home  influence  on  the  children. 

1  dppia,  lambs ;  irpo^aTa,  sheep ;  Trpo/Sdna,  diminutive,  little  sheep, 
young  in  years  or  in  experience. 


30  THE    FKONT    LINE 

They  are  needed  in  the  school  to  give  it  character  and 
tone.  They  are  needed  as  a  means  of  retaining  the  young 
men  and  women  under  its  influence. 

Both  children  and  adults  will  be  better  trained,  better 
instructed,  more  deeply  influenced,  when  all  study  the 
Bible  together.  Mr.  J.  W.  Axtell  in  his  Organized  Sunday 
School  declares  that  "  the  making  of  the  Church  roll  and 
the  Sunday  School  roll  so  nearly  identical  that  the  latter 
shall  practically  embrace  the  former,  is  the  first  condition 
of  the  very  best  type  of  school." 

VI.  The  Church  will  make  the  best  possible  provision 
for  the  needs  of  the  children,  as  the  wise  motlier  does  in 
the  household.  At  the  Front  Line,  in  the  distribution  of 
the  finances,  the  needs  of  the  children  will  never  be  neg- 
lected or  scrimped.  In  the  arrangement  of  the  services 
the  children  will  never  be  forgotten.  Never  will  the  Church 
or  pastor  let  sermon  or  service  trespass  on  the  hour  set 
apart  for  the  children  ;  never  will  they  be  willing  to  climb 
to  their  highest  experiences  on  a  ladder  made  of  the  losses 
of  their  children. 

VII.  The  Sunday  Schools  on  the  Front  Line  will  have 
the  best  buildings,  rooms,  and  apparatus  within  reach  of 
the  Church.  Everything  that  can  aid  in  the  work  will  be 
provided.     See  Chapter  XL 

VIII.  The  teachers  will  be  chiefly  from  the  members  of 
the  Church ;  the  choicest  and  the  best  people  in  it  working 
for  love.  Thus  they  will  be  teaching  by  example  seven 
days  in  the  week  what  they  teach  in  the  school  one  hour  a 
week.  Except  for  some  primary  classes,  and  some  special 
adult  classes,  nothing  can  be  as  good  for  the  school  or  the 
Church  as  this  plan.  The  Church  needs  it  as  much  as  the 
children.     And  for  the  children,  no  knowledge,  no  train- 


A  bird's-eye  view  31 

ing  in  teachers  from  without,  can  weigh  for  one  moment 
against  a  band  of  teachers  selected  from  the  best  members 
in  the  Church  for  character-making  power.  See  Chap- 
ter V. 

IX.  The  Teachers  will  be  trained  for  their  Work.  —  The 
Educator  will  be  Educated.  He  will  be  educated  to  ac- 
complish the  aim  for  which  the  Sunday  School  stands. 
He  will  be  educated  in  character,  in  knowledge  of  the 
Bible,  in  the  study  of  the  child,  in  the  art  of  teaching,  and 
in  the  art  of  living.     See  Chapter  V. 

X.  Provision  will  be  made  by  the  Church  for  the  Train- 
ing of  its  Teachers.  —  It  will  provide  Reference  Libraries, 
courses  of  lectures,  normal  classes,  teachers'  meetings; 
and,  as  far  as  possible,  open  the  way  for  them  to  attend 
the  institutes,  conventions,  lectures,  classes,  correspond- 
ence schools,  and  all  means  abundantly  provided  for  this 
purpose. 

This  they  will  do  the  more  willingly  because  the  parents, 
the  young  people,  and  the  community  in  general  need 
these  things  almost  as  much  as  the  teachers.  See  Chap- 
ter V. 

XL  The  Teacher's  Pastorate.  —  Sunday  School  classes 
have  been  called  ''  Little  Parishes  of  Eight."  Every  good 
teacher  is  the  pastor  of  his  class.  He  has  an  unusual 
opportunity  of  giving  to  his  class  the  shepherding  which 
a  pastor  gives  his  flock.  He  can  often  gain  the  intimate 
confidence  of  the  boys  and  girls,  in  some  cases  even  more 
than  parents  can,  and  guide  them  with  wise  counsels. 
See  Chapter  III. 

XII.  Organized  Classes.  — Every  class  above  the  primary 
will  be  organized  with  regular  officers,  and  be  largely  self- 
governing.     It  can  thus  do  much  practical  work  like  the 


32  THE   FRONT   LINE 

^yhatsoever  Committee  in  the  Junior  Endeavor.  The 
members  can  invite  others  that  would  naturally  belong  to 
their  grade  to  join  them,  the  social  meetings  giving  a  spe- 
cially good  opportunity  for  this  purpose  ;  they  can  supple- 
ment the  Sunday  School  work  by  meeting  on  week-day 
evenings,  with  the  stereoscopic  pictures  or  special  studies ; 
they  can  give  mutual  help  in  various  ways. 

Especially  among  boys  is  the  organized  class  of  great 
value.  One  of  the  brightest  of  our  younger  Sunday 
School  writers,  Rev.  William  Byron  Forbush,  Ph.D.,  in 
his  Boy  Problem^  gives  some  figures  from  a  Questionnaire 
by  Dr.  Sheldon.  Of  the  1034  boys  of  ten  to  sixteen 
years,  who  responded,  851  were  members  of  societies 
formed  among  themselves.  "  From  1022  papers  collected 
there  were  reported  862  societies,  more  than  half  of  which 
were  athletic  or  game  clubs,"  the  greatest  period  of 
activity  being  between  the  ages  of  ten  and  fifteen.  Older 
classes  are  organized  in  a  different  w^ay,  but  are  quite 
as  useful  and  necessary.  They  look  out  for  the  sick, 
the  stranger,  the  neglected.  They  carry  the  invitation, 
they  arrange  socials,  they  plan  for  mutual  improvement 
and  help. 

XIII.  The  classes  will  usually  consist  of  from  six  to  ten 
scholars,  except  in  the  cases  of  the  primary  and  the  adult 
Bible  classes,  and  those  classes  where  some  teacher  has 
peculiar  power  of  attracting  and  teaching.  Many  a  teacher 
can  succeed  with  six  scholars  who  would  fail  with  ten. 
Yet  it  is  seldom  wise  to  divide  a  class  which  has  gathered 
around  a  teacher  whose  attraction  has  drawn  the  scholars 
to  her. 

XIV.  The  study  hour  will  not  be  less  than  forty  minutes, 
but  in  the  younger  classes  there  will  probably  be  more 


A  bird's-eye  view  33 

than  one  kind  of  lesson.     To  them  belong  the   Supple- 
mental Lessons. 

XV.  The  School  will  begin  and  end  promptly.  — The 
opening  exercises  will  never  infringe  on  the  study  period. 
If  for  any  reason  something  must  be  shortened,  it  will  be 
something  besides  the  study  hour  ;  that  will  be  as  sacred 
and  unalterable  as  the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians. 
Once  a  minister,  coming  to  preach  to  a  regiment  of 
soldiers,  saw  this  motto  in  large  letters  before  him  on 
the  wall  of  the  tent :  — 

"  The  New  Beatitude  :  Blessed  is  he  that  is  short  for 
he  shall  be  asked  to  come  again." 

So  on  the  successful  Sunday  School  is  written :  Blessed 
is  the  superintendent  that  is  short,  and  prompt,  and  busi- 
nesslike, and  does  everything  on  time,  for  he  shall  be  asked 
to  serve  again  and  again. 

XVI.  The  Devotional  Exercises  will  be  truly  devotional, 
producing  the  best  possible  atmosphere  for  the  culture 
of  the  spiritual  life,  for  the  study  and  the  practice  of 
the  Word  of  God.  The  forms  of  devotion,  those  that 
naturally  express  the  devotional  spirit,  Avill  be  universal 
throughout  the  school.  President  Hopkins  wisely  taught 
his  classes  that  where  the  natural  forms  of  devotion  are 
disregarded,  the  spirit  of  devotion  itself  will  die.  Closed 
eyes  and  bowed  heads  are  essential  during  the  prayers. 
"  The  Lord  is  in  his  holy  temple,  let  all  the  earth  keep 
silence  before  him."  Let  every  worldly  thought  and 
feeling  be  hushed,  that  "  the  still,  small  voice  "  of  God 
may  be  heard.  No  one,  however  saintly,  will  be  allowed 
to  lead  the  Sunday  School  in  prayer  who  does  not  express 
the  devotional  spirit,  the  longings  and  desires  which  chil- 
dren can  feel,  and  enter  into  from  the  heart ;  for  other- 


34  THE   FRONT    LINE 

wise  he  is  not  only  tempting  them  to  irreverence  and 
discourtesy  to  God  and  his  worship,  but  is  training  them 
into  the  hypocrisy  of  using  forms  without  the  spirit. 

This  is  the  time  also  when  the  most  devotional  portions 
of  the  Scripture  shall  become  so  familiar  by  continued 
repetition  from  Sunday  to  Sunday  that  they  will  become, 
like  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  natural  medium  for  the  ex- 
pression of  the  religious  feeling. 

My  long-time  friend,  the  Rev.  Alford  A.  Butler,  D.D., 
Dean  of  the  Faribault  Episcopal  Divinity  School,  gave  at 
the  Crypt  Conference  some  wise  advice  which  all  denomi- 
nations would  do  well  to  adapt  to  their  own  conditions. 

"The  worship  of  the  Sunday  School  should  train  the 
children  to  understand  and  love  the  services  of  the 
Church.  Yet  some  clergymen,  ignorant  of  the  first  prin- 
ciples of  pedagogy,  do  the  opposite  thing.  They  so  plan 
their  Sunday  School  worship  as  to  educate  the  children  to 
be  unfamiliar  with  the  Church's  prayer  and  praise,  and 
strangers  to  their  devotional  helpfulness.  Do  you  won- 
der that  such  children  drop  out  between  Sunday  School 
and  Church  ?  "  On  the  other  hand  the  spirit  of  worship 
will  make  the  school  "  the  house  of  God,  and  the  gate  of 
heaven." 

XVII.  The  School  will  be  graded  both  in  material  and 
in  method,  with  distinct  upward  steps,  and  a  final  gradua- 
tion, not  out  of  the  school,  but  into  the  great  adult  de- 
partment where  the  scholars  will  pursue  post-graduate 
courses  till  God  calls  them  to  his  Heavenly  Home.  See 
Chapter  VI. 

XVIII.  The  Regular  Lessons  will  be  the  continually 
improving  and  modified  International  Lessons,  at  least 
till  some  of  the  many  active  experimenters  on  the  Front 


A  bird's-eye  view  35 

Line  shall  see  a  vision  and  present  a  workable  ideal  of 
something  better,  not  merely  in  certain  directions  but  as 
a  whole.  For  I  have  as  yet  seen  none — even  in  the 
light  of  the  present  scientific  child  study  and  pedagogy  — 
which  combines  so  much  of  the  best,  with  so  few  "  outs," 
as  that  system,  with  optional  lessons  for  the  children  at 
the  one  end,  and  unlimited  elective  lessons  for  certain 
adult  classes  at  the  other,  according  to  the  latest  plan. 
See  Chapter  VI. 

XIX.  Supplemental  Lessons  and  Reviews.  —  Supple- 
mental lessons  are  drills  in  condensed  statements,  and 
various  things  to  be  learned  by  heart,  which  are  essential 
to  the  best  understanding  of  the  Bible,  and  of  each  sepa- 
rate lesson.  They  do  not  pertain  to  one  system  of  lessons 
more  than  another.  There  is  no  conceivable  system  in 
which  they  are  not  needed.  They  keep  in  view  the  whole 
scheme  of  which  each  separate  lesson  is  a  part,  and  in 
which  the  lesson  finds  its  place  and  unity.  They  belong 
chiefly  to  the  lower  grades,  up  to  fourteen  or  fifteen  years. 
They  should  be  used  in  general  exercises  wherever  pos- 
sible. They  should  include  summaries  of  geography,  of 
history,  of  chronology,  of  biography,  of  facts  about  the 
Bible,  of  the  great  truths  of  Christianity,  and  of  the  dis- 
tinctive doctrines  of  the  denomination  to  which  the 
school  belongs. 

Reviews,  if  made  not  a  mere  repetition  of  the  detailed 
lessons,  their  titles  and  golden  texts,  or  special  teachings, 
but  a  broad  view  of  the  movement  of  the  history,  can 
accomplish  a  part  of  this  purpose,  but  only  a  part.  Ac- 
cording to  Professor  Hamill,  the  review  is  "  the  completion^ 
test,  and  confirmation  of  teaching.''  The  Review  "  is  one  of 
the  seven  essential  conditions  of  all  true  teaching.     Other 


36  THE   FRONT  LINE 

things  being  eqnal,  he  is  the  ablest  and  most  successful 
teacher  who  secures  from  his  pupils  the  most  frequent, 
thorough,  and  interesting  reviews." 

XX.  The  Sunday  School  will  be  a  Part  of  a  Great  System 
of  Cooperation.  —  It  will  cooperate  with  the  other  depart- 
ments of  the  Church  in  giving  aid  in  lectures  and  educa- 
tional classes ;  with  the  organized  young  people's  societies 
in  many  directions.  It  will  be  in  closest  relations  with 
parents  and  the  home ;  with  pastors'  classes  and  with  the 
work  of  the  day  school. 

It  will  cooperate  with  other  Sunday  Schools ;  as,  for  in- 
stance, in  taking  a  Sunday  School  census,  so  that  no  one 
can  fail  of  receiving  an  invitation  to  some  Sunday  School ; 
in  teachers'  meetings  and  normal  classes ;  in  an  inter- 
change of  teachers  of  Bible  classes  and  experts  in  differ- 
ent departments  of  Bible  study.  It  will  cooperate  with 
the  town  libraries;  as,  for  instance,  in  New  York  City 
and  in  the  cities  of  Newton  and  Somerville  (Mass.). 

It  will  cooperate,  both  by  personal  attendance  and  finan- 
cial support,  with  the  great  organized  work  of  the  Inter- 
national Committee  in  extending  Sunday  School  interests 
throughout  the  state  and  the  country ;  and  with  the  Sun- 
day School  work  of  the  Religious  Education  Association 
and  all  other  organizations  which  aid  the  cause  of  Bible 
study. 

Two  cooperating  with  another  two  are  much  more  than 
two  and  two ;  separate,  single  notes  are  sweet  sounds,  but 
single  notes  multiplied  are  an  anthem  ;  separate  colors  are 
lovely,  but  multiplied  together  they  become  a  cathedral 
window. 

One  of  the  speakers  in  the  Parliament  of  Religions  re- 
lates the  legend  that  "when  Adam  and  Eve  were  turned 


A  bird's-eye  view  37 

out  of  Eden,  their  earthly  paradise,  an  angel  smashed  the 
gates,  and  the  fragments,  flying  over  the  earth,  are  the 
precious  stones."  These  stones,  he  says,  were  picked  up 
by  the  various  sects  and  philosophies,  each  claiming  that 
"  his  own  fragment  alone  was  the  true  material  out  of 
which  the  Paradise  Gates  are  made."  By  making  all  the 
Sunday  School  units  "  cooperant  units,"  by  blending  to- 
gether all  the  jewelled  fragments  scattered  over  the  Sun- 
day School  world,  there  will  at  last  be  constructed  the 
Paradise  Gates  to  the  Sunday  School  ideal. 

XXI.  The  Sunday  School  and  the  Home.  —  Since  the  de- 
cline of  morning  and  evening  family  prayers,  the  Sunday 
School  is  the  most  effective  means  of  cultivating  Bible  study 
in  the  home.  Where  the  whole  family  have  the  same  lesson, 
they  have  a  centre  of  attraction  for  Bible  study,  a  supply 
of  helps,  increasing  interest,  a  topic  of  conversation  and 
discussion,  of  which  there  is  now  nothing  to  take  the 
place. 

It  is  especially  valuable  in  introducing  Bible  study  into 
families  not  connected  with  any  Church. 

A  large  part  of  Bible  study  at  home  is  occasioned  and 
stimulated  by  the  necessity  of  teaching  a  class  in  the  Sun- 
day School,  or  of  helping  the  children  to  prepare  their 
lessons. 

The  home  is  the  best  place  for  children  to  learn  the 
Bible  by  putting  their  Sunday  School  lessons  in  practice. 

The  principles  which  train  teachers  are  almost  equally 
valuable  to  parents  for  training  their  children. 

The  Daily  Bible  Readings  which  accompany  each  lesson 
are  a  great  stimulus  to  Bible  reading  at  home.  Especially 
so  is  the  great  International  Bible  Reading  Association 
of  nearly  one  million  members  in  all  parts  of  the  world, 


38  THE   FRONT   LINE 

having  its  fountain  head  in  London,  57  Ludgate  Hill,  Mr. 
Charles  Waters  being  its  founder  and  Honorary  Secretary. 

Most  of  the  ignorance  of  the  Bible  on  the  part  of  the 
young,  of  which  so  much  has  lately  been  said,  lies  at  the 
door  of  the  neglect  of  Bible  reading  in  the  home.  If 
modern  children  read  the  Bible  as  I  have  told  you  I  was 
trained  to  read  it,  there  would  not  be  much  danger  of  those 
children  failing  in  the  Bible  tests  Avhen  they  entered  col- 
lege. The  Home  will  never  be  at  its  best  till  in  each  one 
is  obeyed  the  Lord's  command  to  Israel  of  old,  concerning 
His  Holy  Words  :  "  Thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently  to 
thy  children,  and  shalt  talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in 
thine  house,  and  when  thou  walkest  by  the  way,  and  when 
thou  liest  down,  and  when  thou  risest  up.  And  thou 
shalt  bind  them  for  a  sign  upon  thine  head,  and  they  shall 
be  as  frontlets  between  thine  eyes.  And  thou  shalt  write 
them  upon  the  posts  of  thy  house  and  on  thy  gates." 

XXII.  A  wide-awake  Home  Department  will  always  be 
an  efficient  agency  of  the  Front  Line  Sunday  School. 
Most  schools  cannot  be  on  the  Front  Line  without  one. 
The  Home  Department  idea  was  almost  a  stroke  of  genius. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  important  developments  of  the  Sun- 
day School  work  which  has  appeared  for  many  years,  and 
the  greatness  of  its  possibilities,  when  the  whole  Sunday 
School  world  shall  have  come  up  to  the  Front  Line  of  an 
efficient,  well-worked,  improved  Home  Department,  has 
but  begun  to  be  realized. 

The  movement  is  increasing.  There  are  already  more 
than  three  hundred  thousand  members.  Every  year 
new  schools  adopt  the  plan.  It  is  a  tried  and  proved 
success.  Its  numbers  should  be  added  to  the  Sunday 
School  roll. 


A  bird's-eye  view  39 

It  has  been  found  that,  in  addition  to  its  values  to  the 
Sunday  School  work,  the  social  power  of  the  Church  can  be 
increased  by  appointing  prominent  women  of  the  Church 
to  be  visitors.  They  have  a  reason  for  visiting  strangers, 
and  a  topic  by  which  most  easily  they  can  introduce  the 
work  and  the  fellowship  of  the  Church,  and  give  the 
invitation  to  its  services. 

XXIII.  It  will  be  a  missionary  school,  deeply  interested 
in  spreading  the  Gospel,  widening  the  horizon  even  of  the 
younger  scholars,  and  building  them  up  in  an  unselfish 
desire  to  help  others.  This  is  another  field  in  which  to 
put  in  practice  the  truths  they  have  learned,  and  in  which 
to  join  in  the  great  work  of  the  Church.  The  missionary 
interest  is  the  saving  of  the  Church,  the  enriching  of  the 
Church,  the  broadening  of  the  Church.  Thus  we  talk  of 
the  Broad  Church  and  the  Narrow  Church.  There  are 
two  infallible  tests  which,  like  Ithuriel's  spear,  pierce 
through  all  claims  and  names  ;  Are  you  broad  enough 
to  take  this  life  and  the  future  life  into  your  calculation  ; 
and  are  you  broad  enough  to  take  the  welfare  of  all  men, 
far  and  near,  of  every  race  and  name,  into  your  labors, 
your  giving,  and  your  prayers  ? 

XXIV.  It  will  be  flexible,  adapting  itself  to  all  circum- 
stances, of  wealth  or  poverty,  in  city  or  in  country,  for  family 
life  or  mission  ground.  Great  success  and  usefulness  can 
be  obtained  under  the  most  adverse  circumstances,  if  the 
work  is  inspired  with  the  right  spirit  and  a  determination 
to  do  the  best  possible. 

In  the  cemetery  among  the  beautiful  hills  of  Williams- 
town  stands  a  monument  to  one  of  my  college  classmates. 
While  wrestling  in  his  freshman  year  he  injured  his  knee. 
Lameness,  pain,  and  ill-health  were  his  guardian  angels 


40  THE   FllONT   LINE 

through  study  and  travel,  till  he  became  a  professor  in  the 
college  and  a  saintly  man,  whose  face  shone  almost  like 
that  of  Moses  when  he  came  from  the  presence  of  God. 
On  that  monument  are  carved  the  words  which  his  life  had 
wrought  out  :  Meine  Trubsal  war  mein  Crluck^  My  misfor- 
tune has  been  my  good  fortune.  My  trouble  has  been  my 
blessing.  This  is  a  good  motto  for  every  Sunday  School 
that  works  under  disadvantages.  It  is  possible  for  them  to 
make  it  the  expression  of  their  whole  experience,  written 
in  letters  of  heavenly  gold,  Meine  Trubsal  war  mein  Glilek. 
XXV.  The  Front  Line  Sunday  School  will  be  interest- 
ing and  enthusiastic.  —  According  to  President  Schurman 
''  Interest  is  the  greatest  word  in  Education."  The  Sunday 
School  must  be  rendered  interesting,  or  it  will  fail  both  in 
numbers  and  usefulness.  This  does  not  mean  that  its 
business  is  to  please,  to  make  things  easy,  to  lay  no  bur- 
dens on  the  scholars.  That  is  always  a  failure.  It  defeats 
itself.  As  Professor  Home  well  expresses  it,  "  It  is  not  a 
class-room  vaudeville,  it  is  an  engrossing  occupation ;  it  is 
not  an  amusing  entertainment  of  the  pupils,  it  is  a  joyous 
attainment  by  the  pupils ;  it  is  not  play,  it  is  attractive, 
compelling  work  ;  it  is  not  pursuing  the  line  of  least 
resistance,  it  is  discovering  the  line  of  greatest  attraction. 
The  true  opposite  of  interest  is  not  hard  work,  but  drudg- 
ery." It  means  that  there  is  something  worth  while, 
something  the  child  needs,  something  connected  with  his 
daily  life,  something  which  he  wants  to  know  or  do.  Boys 
are  attracted  to  athletics,  not  because  foot-ball  and  row- 
ing and  tennis  and  golf  are  easy,  but  because  they  are 
hard.  Compare  Ruskin's  wonderful  words  in  the  last 
chapter  of  the  last  volume  of  Modern  Painters^  where 
he  pours  out  his  very  soul  on  fire  with  intensest  feeling. 


A  bird's-eye  view  41 

The  subjects  of  study  must,  however,  be  so  presented 
that  they  will  not  be  drudgery,  but  will  be  so  interesting 
that  the  scholars  will  love  to  study.  "  A  good  Teacher," 
says  De  Garmo,  "can  make  the  driest  sort  of  material 
glow  with  life  and  interest."  I  once  went  nearly  two 
hundred  miles  to  hear  President  Harper,  then  a  professor 
at  Yale,  teach  Hebrew,  in  order  to  learn  how  to  teach  in 
the  Sunday  School.  He  taught  Hebrew  in  so  interesting  a 
manner  that  he  made  its  dry  bones  charm  one  like  a  story. 
He  is  the  best  language  teacher  I  have  ever  known. 

Everything  about  a  Sunday  School,  from  beginning  to 
end,  while  never  deviating  in  the  least  degree  from  its 
great  purpose,  never  lessening  its  real  work,  should  yet  be 
so  enthusiastic,  so  attractive,  that  it  would  be  a  punish- 
ment to  a  child  to  compel  him  to  stay  away. 

XXVI.  The  Front  Line  Sunday  School  will  be  an 
Evangelizing  Power.  —  It  is  the  business  of  the  Church  to 
bring  the  Gospel  within  reach  of  every  person  in  its  com- 
munity, and  one  of  the  three  great  agencies  for  this  end, 
and  not  the  least,  is  the  Front  Line  Sunday  School.  You 
can  reach  parents  through  the  children.  You  can  bring 
the  Bible  and  its  words  of  life  into  the  home  through  the 
children's  Sunday  School  lessons.  The  superintendent  of 
one  of  the  largest  Sunday  Schools  in  the  country  said  to 
me  that  he  reached  many  mothers  through  the  cradle  roll. 

No  greater  problem  faces  this  country  of  ours  than  arises 
from  the  mighty  inflow  of  peoples  from  every  land  under 
the  sun ;  and  the  numbers  who  are  so  far  away  from  the 
churches  as  to  be  only  slightly  touched  by  their  influ- 
ence. Some  one  has  said  that  he  who  does  not  see  the 
danger  is  blind,  and  he  that  is  not  willing  to  face  it  is  a 
coward. 


42  THE   FRONT    LINE 

I  thank  God  that  he  has  brought  these  people  to  our 
doors  where  we  can  reach  them,  where  we  can  put  them 
under  the  best  influence,  and  has  said  to  us,  ''  Educate, 
Christianize,  these  peoples  or  perish." 

There  is  a  great  cry  "America  for  Americans."  Very 
well.  I  believe  in  "  America  for  Americans,"  if  you  will 
interpret  it  aright;  that  is  America  to  make  Americans. 
We  have  the  instrumentality  and  the  power,  and  it  is  our 
business  to  turn  every  one  that  comes  to  our  shores  into 
a  real,  true,  earnest,  patriotic,  loyal.  Christian  American. 
I  heard  once  the  motto  given,  "Our  country,  right  or 
wrong  "  ;  and  I  still  believe  in  that,  if  you  will  interpret 
it  aright.  "Our  country,  right  or  wrong";  if  she  is 
right,  to  keep  her  right ;  if  she  is  wrong,  to  make  her 
right.  "  Our  country,  right  or  wrong  !  "  And  every  coun- 
try, English  or  French,  Chinese  or  Japanese,  may  say  the 
same  thing  if  they  will. 

Now  the  Sunday  School  is  the  right  hand  of  the  Church 
in  this  work.  The  children  are  the  ones  to  carry  the 
invitation  to  other  children.  The  Sunday  School  should 
make  a  census  of  the  field.  From  the  town  or  city 
authorities  can  be  found  the  name  and  address  of  every 
child  between  five  and  fifteen  years  old.  It  is  easy  to 
learn  from  each  Sunday  School  which  ones  belong  to  its 
care.  The  residue  can  be  seen  and  invited  to  go  to  which- 
ever school  they  prefer. 

As  a  rule  it  is  better  to  make  the  one  central  school  as 
attractive  as  possible,  and  then  furnish  transportation  for 
those  at  a  distance,  than  to  sustain  a  separate  school  in  a 
small  neighborhood.  This  plan  is  becoming  popular  in 
the  day  school. 

One  of  the  real  dangers  in  wanting  a  model  school  is 


A  bird's-eye  view  43 

that  it  shall  be  made  good  by  exclusion  rather  than  by 
transformation,  that  it  shall  be  like  the  Pharisee's  feast, 
which  failed  of  the  blessing  because  to  it  were  invited  only 
''friends,  brethren,  kinsmen,  rich  neighbors."  Jesus  de- 
scribes the  model  feast  thus :  "  But  when  thou  makest  a 
feast,  bid  the  poor,  the  maimed,  the  lame,  the  blind,  and 
thou  Shalt  be  blessed."  The  model  Sunday  School  is  not 
one  where,  merely  because  others  are  excluded  or  unsought, 
all  behavior  is  perfect,  every  scholar  has  his  lesson,  is 
always  on  time,  and  gives  no  trouble  to  his  teacher. 
The  model  school  is  after  the  bad  boy,  the  untrained 
girl,  the  disobedient  child,  the  wayward  and  the  erring, 
the  poor,  the  spiritually  blind.  Thus  only  can  it  be 
blessed. 

There  was  a  period  in  my  ministry  when  the  Sunday 
evening  meetings  were  thronged,  not  to  hear  me  preach, 
for  the  meetings  were  simply  well-organized  prayer  meet- 
ings ;  and  among  the  young  people  came  a  number  who 
disturbed  the  meeting,  whispered  during  prayers,  threw 
peanut  shells,  and  made  themselves  a  nuisance.  It  must 
be  stopped ;  but  how?  One  of  my  ministerial  friends  had 
driven  nearly  all  his  young  people  away  from  his  meeting 
by  scolding  them  for  such  conduct.  This  we  would  not 
do.  Shut  out  the  deacons,  if  need  be,  keep  the  saints  at 
home,  if  you  must,  but  never  those  who  do  not  know 
enough  to  behave,  for,  if  any  one  needs  the  prayer  meet- 
ing or  Sunday  School,  it  is  they.  We  cured  the  trouble 
in  a  very  simple  way,  by  offering  a  prize  to  the  member  of 
the  day  school  who  should  write  the  best  essay  on  how  to 
behave  in  prayer  meeting.  For  nearly  two  months  I  be- 
gan every  meeting  with  such  an  essay,  and  after  the  first 
one  the  meeting  was  so  still  and  solemn  that  one  of  the 


44  THE   FKONT   LINE 

deacons  said  to  me  afterward  that  it  seemed  like  a  revival. 
The  principal  of  the  most  perfect  day  school  I  have  ever 
seen  said  to  me  that  he  never  refused  a  boy  because  he 
was  bad.  But  he  urns  not  alloived  to  stay  had.  I  heard  a 
man  in  a  convention  say,  "  The  larger  the  school,  the  larger 
the  failure."  True ;  provided  it  is  a  failure  at  all.  But  if 
a  school  does  not  get  in  everybody,  if  it  is  not  welcoming 
even  the  publicans  and  sinners,  as  Christ  did,  it  is  more  than 
a  failure,  it  is  a  crime.     "  Not  failure,  but  low  aim  is  crime." 

I  have  been  presenting  to  you,  as  clearly  as  I  can,  some 
glimpses  of  the  Front  Line  of  Sunday  School  work.  Dimly 
and  imperfectly  as  it  is  seen,  it  is  yet  full  of  encourage- 
ment and  hope.  It  is  like  the  sunrise  from  my  mountain 
home  in  the  lovely  White  Mountain  valley,  wliere  I  am 
writing  these  words  and  am  looking  at  the  front  line  of 
the  coming  day.  The  sun  is  still  behind  the  eastern  hills ; 
the  darkness  and  light  are  having  their  battle  in  the  val- 
ley below;  the  shadows  linger,  dark  and  dismal,  in  the 
ravines ;  the  mists  cover  the  course  of  the  streams.  But 
I  know  that  the  day  is  coming,  because  I  can  see  the 
whole  circle  of  the  western  mountain  tops  glowing  in  the 
light  of  the  rising  sun. 

John  Fiske,  in  his  Critical  Period  of  United  States  His- 
tory^ tells  a  story  of  the  stormy  Constitutional  Convention 
of  1789.  On  the  back  of  the  President's  quaint,  black 
arm-chair  there  was  emblazoned  a  half  sun,  brilliant  with 
gilded  rays.  As  the  meeting  was  breaking  up  and  Wash- 
ington arose,  Franklin  pointed  to  the  chair  and  made  it 
the  text  for  a  prophecy.  "  As  I  have  been  sitting  here 
all  these  weeks,"  he  said,  "  I  have  often  wondered  whether 
yonder  sun  was  rising  or  setting.  But  now  I  know  that 
it  is  a  rising  sun." 


A  bird's-eye  view  45 

I  have  long  looked  at  the  Sunday  School.  I  know 
something  of  its  darkness,  its  difficulties,  its  discourage- 
ments, its  comparisons  with  the  day  schools.  There  are 
those  who  look  only  at  its  shadows,  whose  eyes  are  fixed 
on  its  failures,  on  the  slowness  of  its  development  com- 
pared with  its  ideals,  who  "  expect  the  Sunday  School 
work  to  advance  with  strides  befitting  a  Hiawatha  remov- 
ing obstructions  as  by  a  blow  from  his  magical  mittens," 
who  have  never  learned  "  Phillips  Brooks's  winning  com- 
bination — '  Certainty  of  final  issue  and  patience  with  the 
lingering  means.'"  These  can  say  hard  things  without 
number  and  with  truth.  And  usually  they  do  it  sincerely, 
in  order  to  spur  us  on  to  labor  and  ]3ray  and  wait  as  *'  they 
that  watch  for  the  morning." 

But  whosoever  looks  at  the  actual  Front  Line,  who  sees 
the  light  on  the  mountain  tops,  knows  that  the  Sunday 
School  is  not  a  setting  but  a  rising  sun. 

The  Day  School  has  made  wonderful  advances.,  but  the 
Sunday  School  has  made  more.  ExcejDt  the  marvellous 
progress  of  the  Christian  Endeavor  movement,  meeting  as 
it  did  a  great  hunger  and  need,  I  know  of  no  educational 
movement  that  has  made  such  rapid  strides  as  the  Sunday 
School  in  the  last  third  of  the  last  century.  Where  has 
there  been  in  educational  lines  anything  that  has  flashed 
out  new  light  and  new  power  all  along  the  whole  horizon 
like  the  International  Lesson  System  thirty  years  ago. 
It  met  a  great  need,  and  it,  with  the  best  helps  and 
methods  connected  with  it,  has  ever  since  grown  better 
with  great  rapidity.  The  whole  country  is  organized 
for  Sunday  School  progress  and  teacher-training.  The 
press  is  busy  aiding  its  work,  with  an  output  exceeding 
all  periodicals  except  the  daily  newspapers.     The  great. 


46  THE   FRONT   LINE 

Religious  Education  Association  is  sustained  by  the  most 
learned  men  in  the  country,  who  give  their  time  and 
strength  to  it.  Science  is  flashing  new  light  on  Bible 
study,  and  child  study,  and  principles  of  teaching.  The 
Bible  League,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations, 
Cliautauqua  Assemblies,  and  Summer  Schools  have  joined 
the  great  army  of  helpers.  The  colleges  and  universities 
are  furnishing  courses  on  the  Bible  and  pedagogy.  Every 
advance  in  secular  education  gives  light  and  help  and 
example ;  while  many  and  many  an  experiment  is  made, 
on  a  larger  or  smaller  scale,  by  practical  men  as  well  as  by 
seers  of  visions  and  dreamers  of  dreams.  All  these  mean 
that  light  is  dawning  all  along  the  horizon. 

"  Many  times  quailing,  never  once  failing 
So  the  new  day  came  out  of  the  night." 

"  Day  boils  at  last,  and  overflows  the  world." 


Ill 

THE   TEACHER  AXD   HIS   CLASS 

It  is  Sunday  morning,  and  I  am  on  my  way  to  the 
Sunday  School  to  teach  my  class.  As  I  walk  slowly  and 
thoughtfully  along  I  ask  myself  certain  questions.  First 
of  all  :  — 

What  am  I  going  for  ?  What  do  I  propose  to  do  ?  —  One 
cannot  hit  a  mark  unless  he  has  a  mark.  He  will  be  like 
the  famous  Roman  soldier  who  received  a  leather  medal 
for  missing  the  mark  sixty  consecutive  times.  Before  the 
artist  begins  his  work  on  a  marble  block  he  has  a  clear 
vision  of  just  what  he  desires  to  accomplish,  or  every  blow 
of  his  hammer  might  be  a  mistake.  He  whose  work  is 
the  training  and  guiding  of  immortal  souls  needs  to  have 
a  vision  of  what  he  wants  each  boy  or  girl  in  his  class  to 
become,  and  to  make  every  lesson  he  teaches  tell  upon 
that  result. 

A  professor  in  one  of  our  largest  institutions  of  learn- 
ing, himself  a  very  notable  teacher,  said  to  me  the  other 
day  that  one  great  mistake  made  by  teachers  was  the  fail- 
ure to  realize  that  teaching  was  a  business,  just  as  much 
a  business  as  banking,  or  railroading,  or  manufacturing. 
Their  business  was  to  accomplish  certain  results  with 
young  people,  and  they  failed  in  business  if  they  failed  to 
produce  those  results.  The  Sunday  School  teacher  must 
say,  as  the  young  Jesus  said  to  his  parents,  "  Wist  ye 

47 


48  THE    FRONT    LINE 

not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's  business?"  There- 
fore I  make  clear  in  my  mind  what  is  the  business  I  am 
to  do  in  my  class  to-day. 

Again  I  say  to  myself  :  — 

I  am  only  an  Ordinary  Person,  and  how  can  I  do  this 
Great  Work  ?  —  For  what  I  am  set  to  do  is  a  great  work 
and  difficult.  It  is  harder  to  learn  how  to  teach  than  how 
to  preach.  There  are  more  good  scholars  in  the  school  of 
Demosthenes  than  in  the  school  of  Socrates.  It  is  easier 
to  preach  with  Emerson,  "  Hitch  your  wagon  to  a  star," 
than  to  inspire  and  guide  the  boys  in  the  process  of  hitch- 
ing their  own  wagons  to  a  star,  even  the  Star  of  Bethlehem. 
How  I  used  to  dislike  biographies  because  most  of  them 
were  written  in  the  easy  way  of  telling  what  their  subjects 
had  become,  but  failed  in  the  teaching  element  of  showing 
how  these  men  — 

"  Toiled  along  the  climbing  way 
With  painful  steps  and  slow." 

I  never  enjoyed  biography  till  I  read  Hugh  Miller's 
My  Schools  and  Schoolmasters^  where  he  not  only  pictures 
the  height  attained,  but  shows  us  the  "  blazed  trail " 
through  the  forest,  the  very  steps  by  which  he  climbed  the 
Hill  Difficulty  to  the  Palace  Beautiful  on  tlie  top. 

Bat  as  I  walk  along  some  consoling  thoughts  come  to 
me  like  the  angel  to  Elijah  under  the  juniper  tree.  I  re- 
call the  saying  of  Bishop  Phillips  Brooks,  that  "  the  larger 
part  of  the  Christian  work  through  which  the  Millennial 
days  are  coming,  is  done  not  by  the  people  of  ten  talents, 
but  by  those  of  one  or  two  talents  faithfully  used." 

Then  I  recall  the  saying  that  "  a  little  man  with  a  great 
Gospel  is  greater  than  a  great  man  with  a  little  Gospel." 


THE   TEACHER    AND    HIS   CLASS  49 

I  may  have  but  few  talents  but  I  have  a  great  Gospel, 
and  the  might  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  mine,  —  the  same 
powers  which,  through  imperfect  men,  common  fishermen 
and  their  successors,  liave  wrought  wonders  and  victories 
to  which,  in  all  secular  history,  there  is  no  parallel.  Those 
powers  are  mine  for  the  work  I  am  to  do  with  my  class, 
and  I  am  comforted. 

Naturally  follows  the  next  question  :  — 

Am  I  Prepared  ?  —  You  might  as  well  bombard  Gibraltar 
with  unloaded  cannon,  as  teach  a  class  when  you  are 
unprepared.  The  old  comparison  that  the  best  of  cannon 
and  powder  and  shot,  most  carefully  loaded,  is  useless 
unless  touched  with  the  fire,  is  true  now  and  always  ;  but 
the  converse  is  also  true,  that  all  the  lightnings  of  heaven 
cannot  fire  off  an  unloaded  gun. 

I  used  to  be  indignant  at  my  church  members  because 
one  after  another  they  refused  to  take  a  class  when  called 
unexpectedly  from  the  Bible  class  or  visitors'  seats. 
How  can  good  Christian  men,  the  saints,  the  salt  of  the 
earth,  refuse  to  teach  a  Sunday  School  class !  I  wanted  to 
launch  all  the  thunderbolts  of  Sinai  at  them  for  their 
neglect  of  duty.  But  T  changed  my  mind,  and  wanted  to 
aim  the  thunderbolts  at  the  officials  who  did  not  see  to 
it  that  there  was  always  on  hand  a  supply  of  substitute 
teachers  who  were  prepared.  Of  course  in  an  emergency 
almost  any  one  can  take  a  class  for  once  and  make  the 
service  helpful  to  the  children  on  some  subject. 

Dr.  Schauffler  wisely  says  :  — 

"  When  you  have  arrived  at  Saturday  night  you  have 
reached  this  point :  — 

"  Plan Your Work  !     All  the  week  you  plan 

your  work.     When  you  come  to  Sunday  School  you,  — 


50  THE   FRONT    LINE 

u  Work Your Plan." 

But  how  can  you  "  work  your  plan  "  unless  you  have 
"  planned  your  work  "  ! 

I  am  not  now  speaking  of  that  general  preparation  of 
knowledge  and  spirit  and  character  to  which  Dr.  ^Meyer 
refers  when  he  says  that  the  important  question  is  not, 
"  Is  the  sermon  prepared?  "  but,  "  Is  the  man  prepared?  " 
but  of  the  special  preparation  of  the  lesson  for  the  day. 
Am  I  full  of  the  subject?  Am  I  satisfied  with  it?  Has  it 
taken  possession  of  me  till  it  has  culminated  in  a  tingling, 
controlled,  poised  enthusiasm  for  the  truth  I  am  to  teach? 
Has  my  being  been  vitalized  by  it,  till  I  have  tried  to 
practise  it,  or  experience  it  as  a  part  of  my  own  life,  till  it 
seems  the  one  thing  to  teach,  the  one  message  my  whole 
soul  yearns  to  give? 

I  am  now  drawing  near  the  place,  and  I  ask  myself :  — 

Who  is  My  Assistant  Teacher  ? —  One's  assistant  teacher, 
according  to  a  bright  article  by  Mrs.  Harris  in  the 
Sunday  ScJiool  Times  several  years  ago,  is  his  own  per- 
sonal hearing^  character^  and  example. 

One  of  the  brightest  of  Edward  Everett  Hale's  immortal 
stories  is  "My  Double  and  How  He  Undid  Me."  Every 
teacher  has  his  double,  and  it  will  either  undo  him  or 
double  him.  It  will  double  his  power  and  influence,  or 
it  will  undo  him. 

Who  is  your  assistant  teacher?  What  is  he  doing? 
What  is  his  influence  as  he  stands  with  you  before  the 
class? 

Do  you  think  that  you  can  get  your  class  to  obey  the 
superintendent's  bell  if  you  do  not  obey  it  ?  If  you  keep 
on  talking  while  he  talks,  will  not  they  whisper  while  you 
are  talking? 


THE   TEACHEK   AND   HIS   CLASS  51 

Do  you  think  that  you  can  get  all  the  members  of  your 
class  to  sing  if  you  do  not  sing  ? 

Do  you  think  that  you  can  hold  the  attention  of  your 
class  if  you  do  not  hold  your  own  thought  to  the  lesson  ? 

Do  you  think  that  you  can  make  your  scholars  prepare 
their  lesson  at  home  if  they  know  that  you  come  to  the 
class  without  preparation  ? 

Will  tliey  be  prompt  if  you  are  not  prompt  ? 

Can  you  make  your  scholars  bow  their  heads  in  prayer 
if  you  stare  around  the  room  during  the  time  of  devotion, 
as  though  you  were  ashamed  to  worship  God,  or  even  if 
you  open  your  eyes  to  see  whether  they  are  closing  theirs  ? 

Never.  You  can  never  be  successful  with  the  class 
until  your  assistant  teacher  shall  do  and  be  exactly  that 
which  you  wish  your  children  to  do  and  to  be. 

The  "  masterpiece  of  all  eloquence  "  is  the  oration  of 
Demosthenes  when  he  pleaded  before  the  Athenians  that 
they  should  crown  him  because  of  his  wise  counsels  and 
his  deeds. 

The  next  greatest  oration  in  history  is  that  of  iEschines 
in  his  reply  to  Demosthenes,  arguing  that  to  crown  one 
who  had  fled  from  battle,  and  by  his  counsels  had  brought 
the  city  to  ruin,  was  to  corrupt  the  young  men  by  present- 
ing such  a  bad  example  for  their  admiration.  For,  he 
says,  "  You  know  well  it  is  not  music,  nor  the  gymnasium, 
nor  the  schools  that  mould  young  men  ;  it  is  much  more 
.  .  .  the  public  example,"  it  is  the  men  you  honor,  the  men 
for  whom  you  vote,  for  the  character  of  a  city  is  deter- 
mined by  the  character  of  the  men  it  crowns." 

And  you  will  find  that  your  assistant  teacher  is  the 
great  teacher  of  your  class ;  and  he  has  so  much  to  do 
with  your  success,  that  at  home,  in  your  business,  in  your 


52  THE   FRONT    LINE 

class,  everywhere,  your  assistant  teacher  and  yourself 
must  be  at  one,  if  you  would  be  a  successful  teacher. 

The  Greeting.  —  And  now  I  have  reached  the  class  a 
little  early,  and  welcome  each  member  of  the  class.  My 
neighbor,  Rev.  Dr.  F.  E.  Clark,  "  Father  Endeavor,"  has 
upon  the  porch  of  his  house  the  word  ''  Welcome "  in 
twenty-three  different  languages  in  which  Christian  En- 
deavor Societies  are  formed.  In  every  form  in  which 
language  or  action  can  express  the  feeling,  we  bid  our 
class  a  welcome  warm  from  the  heart. 

While  the  school  is  gathering,  let  us  look  around  a  little 
together  and  see  what  tools  we  have  to  work  with.  Look 
into  our  class  room.  Pictures  give  a  homelike  appearance 
to  the  room ;  a  hat-tree  is  in  one  corner,  and  in  another  a 
shelf  with  Bibles  and  hymn-books.  On  one  wall  is  a 
double,  hinged  blackboard,  and  by  its  side  a  home-made 
cornice  containing  maps  and  charts  mounted  on  rollers. 
In  the  centre  of  the  room  is  a  table,  around  which  the 
chairs  are  placed  in  a  circle.  In  the  drawer  of  the  table 
are  paper  pads,  chalk,  pencils,  small  maps,  quarterlies, 
charts,  pictures. 

Two  or  three  articles  are  there  from  Palestine,  which 
illustrate  one  point  in  the  lesson.  A  couple  of  stereo- 
scopes are  on  the  table,  with  some  choice  stereographs  of 
the  scene  in  which  our  lesson  story  took  place.  The  boys 
are  studying  there  while  we  are  looking  around  waiting 
for  the  session  to  open.  There  is  a  Bible  for  every  boy, 
though  we  prefer  that  each  should  bring  his  own,  together 
with  his  Quarterly. 

Each  boy  has  also  a  blank-book  in  which  he  places 
penny  pictures  of  scenes  in  the  Life  of  Christ,  and  is  to 
write  out  a  description  of  the  scene  when  he  reaches  home. 


THE   TEACHER   AND    HIS   CLASS  53 

But  you  ask  what  you  would  do  if  you  could  not  have 
all  these  things.  That  is  just  the  question  I  wanted  you 
to  ask.  The  description  above  is  not  a  fancy  picture,  but 
a  photograph  of  a  room  in  an  ordinary  village  church, 
and  almost  everything  is,  in  some  form,  within  the  reach 
of  most  teachers.  If  you  cannot  have  a  room,  screen  off 
some  corner  of  the  large  room  ;  if  you  have  no  large 
maps,  use  the  maps  in  the  Quarterly;  if  you  have  no 
blackboard,  you  can  get  ten  large  sheets  of  paper  for  a 
cent ;  a  table  can  be  bought  cheap,  or  you  can  make  one  ; 
if  you  cannot  buy  penny  pictures,  cut  them  out  of  the 
papers  or  magazines  ;  if  you  have  no  articles  from  Pales- 
tine, think  up  some  simple  object  lesson  to  illustrate  with, 
and  you  will  find  that  even  "  pails,  animals,  waterpots,  are 
glorified  when  set  in  signs  of  the  Zodiac  in  the  sky." 

I  think  it  was  President  Garfield  Avho  said  that  a  log 
of  wood  in  the  forest,  with  President  Hopkins  on  one  end 
and  a  student  on  the  other,  was  a  college.  All  history  is 
full  of  remarkable  things  done  with  the  poorest  tools  and 
in  the  most  unfavorable  circumstances.  I  praise  the  Lord 
for  it  with  all  my  heart. 

But,  mark  you,  this  is  never  true  of  those  who  might 
have  had  better  tools  and  were  unwilling  to  take  the 
pains  and  make  the  sacrifices  necessary  to  obtain  them. 
The  one  essential  thing  is  the  earnest  spirit  that  realizes 
the  importance  of  the  work,  that  is  willing  to  make  sacri- 
fices to  get  the  best  things  possible  to  do  it  with,  and 
then  does  its  level  best  with  what  it  has. 

No  Sunday  School  teacher  in  any  circumstances,  with 
this  spirit,  ever  failed  of  success. 

The  opening  devotional  service  is  over  and  the  teacher 
is  alone  with  his  class,  even  if  he  is  in  the  main  room  sur- 


54  THE   FRONT  LINE 

rounded  with  other  classes.  We  will  not  disturb  him, 
but  we  will  watch  him  closely,  and  after  the  school  is 
dismissed  we  ask  him  questions  about  some  things  that 
puzzle  us. 

First,  about  his  use  of  Bibles  and  Quarterlies  in  the  class. 
We  say  to  him.  We  notice  that  you,  as  teacher,  and  all 
your  class,  have  both  Quarterlies  and  Bibles  open  before 
you.  But  we  have  been  told  that  this  is  all  wrong.  We 
know  Sunday  Schools  where  the  "  helps "  are  shut  out 
entirely.  They  must  be  left  at  home.  A  great  Sunday 
School  convention  passed  resolutions  to  the  effect  that 
"  the  '  helps '  and  not  the  Bible  are  as  a  rule  used  both  by 
teachers  and  scholars  in  the  Sabbath  School  classes ;  and 
the  consequence  is  [that]  our  Sabbath  School  children, 
while  they  read  and  learn  a  great  deal  about  the  Bible,  do 
not  grow  up  in  that  familiarity  with  the  Bible  itself  which 
is  essential  to  their  becoming  strong  and  steadfast  Chris- 
tians." 

The  teacher  replies :  I  use  both  as  the  best  way  of 
growing  up  in  familiarity  with  the  Bible,  the  purpose 
these  others  are  seeking.  I  have  tried  every  possible  way, 
and  learned  what  I  could  from  others,  and  I  have  settled 
down  upon  this  plan.  You  will  notice,  however,  that  my 
Bible  and  Quarterly  were  lying  on  the  table,  and  that  I 
was  so  familiar  with  my  lesson  that  for  the  most  part 
I  did  not  have  to  look  at  either.  Many  years  ago  I  read 
a  book  on  extempore  preaching  (Bautain's)  of  which  I 
remember  only  two  things,  one  of  which  has  stood  me  in 
good  stead  ever  since. 

It  is  this :  There  are  two  mental  processes  in  preach- 
ing and  teaching ;  one,  the  main  thought  to  be  presented, 
the   other,   the   subsidiary   processes,   like   recalling  the 


THE   TEACHER   AND    HIS   CLASS  55 

thoughts  and  their  order  in  extempore  preaching,  or  re- 
membering the  words  in  reciting  from  memory,  or  keeping 
to  the  manuscript  in  reading. 

Now  each  of  these  three  methods,  extempore,  memoriz- 
ing, and  reading,  can  be  made  equally  effective,  provided 
the  subsidiary  processes  are  unconscious^  so  that  the  whole 
mind  can  be  given  unfettered,  absolutely  free,  to  the  sub- 
ject to  be  impressed.  The  same  principle  holds  true  of 
ease  in  writing  when  we  spell  automatically ;  and  in  music 
when  the  piano  keys  are  struck  without  a  conscious  effort 
of  will  for  each  note. 

Of  course  one  of  the  lessons  to  be  learned  incidentally 
in  the  Sunday  School  is  the  use  of  the  Bible ;  but  the  way 
to  learn  that  is  chiefly  by  continual  references  to  it.  The 
good  Quarterly  has  many  carefully  selected  references, 
and  it  is  easier  both  for  teacher  and  scholar  to  use  the 
Quarterly  for  this  purpose.  If  you  trust  to  your  memory 
alone  you  will  make  comparatively  little  use  of  the  Bible. 
If  you  take  pains  to  select  references  yourself  at  home, 
and  note  them  down  on  paper  which  you  bring  to  the 
class,  then  you  simply  use  a  little  self-made  Quarterly 
instead  of  the  printed  one. 

Moreover  the  scripture  in  the  Quarterly  is  as  real  Bible 
as  if  it  were  bound  in  the  full  Bible  form ;  and  in  a  form 
very  convenient  to  use  for  some  purposes.  In  the  major- 
ity of  cases,  not  only  in  other  schemes  but  in  the  Inter- 
national Lessons,  the  whole  of  the  lesson  is  not  usually 
printed  in  the  Quarterly,  so  that  to  study  the  whole  les- 
son one  must  have  his  Bible ;  though  some  critics  seem 
never  to  have  recognized  this  fact  although  for  the  last 
ten  years  noted  at  the  head  of  each  lesson. 

Again,  the  Quarterly  is  very  convenient  for  reference 


56  THE   FRONT   LINE 

to  maps  and  charts  in  the  class  and  to  its  pictures.  Then 
it  is  a  great  help  in  keeping  teacher  and  class  together  to 
have  the  lesson  scheme  before  them. 

Although  no  good  teacher  ever  confines  himself  to  the 
printed  questions,  yet,  in  order  to  induce  the  class  to 
study  the  lesson  at  home,  some,  at  least,  of  the  questions 
they  study  at  home  must  be  asked  in  the  class. 

There  are  apt  to  be  some  in  the  School  who  have  not 
studied  the  lesson,  and  for  them  it  is  almost  essential  to 
have  the  Quarterly  before  them,  that  they  may  learn  in 
the  school  what  they  neglected  before  they  came.  A 
Greek  professor  in  one  of  our  best  universities  was  cor- 
recting the  proof  of  a  new  Greek  text-book  for  his  class, 
and  I  noticed  that  he  put  the  explanatory  notes  on  the 
same  page  as  the  text,  a  thing  that  was  tabooed  in  my 
college  days.  But  he  said  that  while  the  former  way 
was  theoretically  better,  yet,  for  practical  purposes, 
with  so  little  time  for  the  study,  he  did  not  care  where 
or  when  they  learned  the  facts  if  only  they  learned 
them. 

Thus  I  use  both  Bible  and  Quarterlies  in  my  class, 
because  in  that  way  we  get  the  greatest  knowledge  of  the 
Bible  into  the  scholars. 

Next  we  asked.  How  do  you  govern  your  class?  In 
every  school  and  in  many  classes  are  active,  restless,  mis- 
chievous boys  and  girls,  who  make  one  think  of  a  late 
picture  in  Life^  where  "  plain  Willie  Jones  "  stands  before 
you  as  an  ordinary,  wide-awake,  active  boy.  Then  we 
see  Willie  Jones  as  he  appeared  to  his  teacher,  a  little 
wild,  black  demon  with  horns  and  bats'  wings,  spear- 
pointed  tail,  and  long,  sharp  claws.  And  lastly,  we  see 
him    as   he   appeared    to    his    mother,   a   heavenly-faced 


THE   TEACHER   AND    HIS    CLASS  57 

cherub,  in  saintly  attitude,  with  seraph  wings,  a  halo,  and 
a  crown. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  most  excellent  teachers, 
among  the  very  best,  who  have  little  governing  power. 
It  is  wise  to  keep  these  two  classes  apart. 

Here  are  some  of  my  rules  for  governing  a  class,  for 
good  order  there  must  be  :  — 

1.  Make  your  scholars  see  that  you  are  their  friend 
and  helper. 

2.  See  the  best  in  each  scholar  and  cultivate  it. 

3.  In  the  words  of  Professor  Seeley,  in  his  Foundation 
of  Education :  "  Good  order  does  not  require  the  teacher 
to  see  every  piece  of  innocent  mischief.  I  have  known 
teachers  to  make  themselves  and  their  pupils  miserable 
because  they  saw  every  mischievous  act,  and  felt  con- 
strained to  call  the  culprit  to  account.  I  have  found 
that  the  fault  was  chiefly  with  the  teacher,  who  was  ner- 
vous, fussy,  and  falsely  conscientious.  Good  order  does 
not  mean  absolute  stillness  "  in  the  class,  as  it  does  in  the 
devotional  exercises.  A  certain  amount  of  noise  means 
work.  (Study  Professor  Seeley's  whole  chapter  on  this 
point.) 

4.  Keep  things  moving.  The  best  teacher  I  ever  had 
imposed  no  rules,  but  simply  insisted  on  each  scholar 
attending  to  his  study. 

5.  Give  the  scholars  something  to  do,  and  especially 
set  the  restless  ones  to  doing  it.  Let  them  point  out 
places  on  the  map  or  write  an  answer  or  see  a  picture. 
Cultivate  the  self-activity  of  the  child.  (Study  Dr.  For- 
bush's  Boy  Problem.') 

6.  Throw  questions  rapidly  at  an  inattentive  scholar, 
and  keep  at  it  till  he  becomes  attentive. 


58  THE   FRONT   LINE 

7.  Find  the  "  point  of  contact "  between  the  lesson  and 
the  things  that  the  boy  is  interested  in,  needs,  and  knows 
he  needs. 

8.  Use  variety  in  teaching.  The  Self-made  Merchant^ 
in  his  Letters  to  His  Son,  says,  "I  don't  care  how  good 
old  methods  are,  new  ones  are  better,  even  if  they  are 
only  just  as  good." 

9.  I  have  two  beloved  friends,  one  the  head  of  a  large 
preparatory  school  for  boys,  the  other  a  professor  and 
dean  of  a  great  university,  who,  of  all  men  within  my 
knowledge,  come  the  nearest  to  the  ideal  governing  of 
boys  and  young  men.  Both  practically  use  the  Rarey 
system  of  controlling  horses  —  perfect  kindness  united 
with  absolute  power  of  control.  I  believe  what  a  wise 
man  has  said,  that  "  of  all  the  tools  on  God's  work-bench, 
he  uses  kindness  a  thousand  times  to  any  other's  once." 

10.  Here  is  a  bit  of  experience  from  some  one  whose 
name  I  cannot  recall :  — 

"  At  Boston  a  little  girl  was  entertaining  me  very  pleas- 
antly in  the  parlor,  while  I  was  waiting  for  a  friend  to  come 
downstairs.  I  said  to  her,  'You  go  to  Sunday  School?' 
'Oh,  yes.'  'You  have  a  good  teacher?'  'Yes,  indeed,  I 
have  a  splendid  teacher,  a  magnificent  teacher.'  '  Then 
I  suppose  you  prepare  your  lessons  during  the  week?' 
'Certainly,'  she  answered,  'teacher  makes  us  do  that.'  I 
said,  '  Give  my  compliments  to  your  teacher.  A  teacher 
who  makes  her  scholars  prepare  their  Sunday  School  les- 
sons during  the  week  must  be  a  very  good  teacher.' 
'  Well,'  she  said,  '  I  don't  mean  she  makes  us,'  thinking 
her  way  of  stating  it  had  reflected  on  the  spirit  of  the 
teacher.  '  I  don't  mean  she  makes  us  get  our  lessons,  but 
she  teaches  us  so  that  we  love  to  get  our  lessons.' " 


THE   TEACHER   AND    HIS   CLASS  59 

11.  Another  teacher,  a  lady  whose  control  over  a  large 
school  is  marvellous  in  its  simplicity  and  perfection,  uses 
chiefly  self-government  by  the  scholars  themselves.  This 
is  especially  effective  where  there  is  a  class  organization. 

Rev.  C.  D.  Meigs,  editor  of  the  World- Evangel,  once 
wrote  for  Sunday  School  teachers  the  following  lines, 
which  are  as  sharp  as  the  diamond  he  describes ;  — 

"  A  diamond  '  in  the  rough  ' 
Is  a  diamond  —  sure  enough, 
For,  before  it  ever  sparkles, 
It  is  made  of  diamond  stuff. 

"  Of  course  some  one  must^nc?  it, 
Or  it  never  will  be  found, 
And  then  some  one  must  gi-ind  it, 
Or  it  never  will  be  ground. 

"  But  when  it's  found,  and  when  it's  ground, 
And  wdien  it's  burnished  bright, 
That  diamond's  everlastingly 
Just  Jlashing  out  its  light. 


"  O  !  teacher  in  the  Sunday  School, 
Don't  think  you've  '  done  enough/ 
That  worst  boy  in  your  class  mag  be 
A  diamond  in  the  rough. 

"  Perhaps  you  think  he's  '  grinding '  gou  ! 
And  possibly  you're  right, 
But  it  may  he  you  need  grinding. 
To  burnish  you  up  bright." 

Again  we  ask  our  teacher,  What  do  you  do  for  your 
class  outside  of  the  Sunday  School  ? 

A  single  hour  once  a  week  with  his  class  is  far  too  brief 
for  the  work  a  teacher   is   privileged  to   do.     It  is  the 


60  THE   FRONT    LINE 

centre  of  a  larger  field,  the  source  of  many  streams  of 
helpful  influences,  the  door  to  many  opportunities.  The 
class  is  the  teacher's  parish.  He  often  can  help  his 
scholars  more  effectually  in  some  aspects  of  their  reli- 
gious life  than  either  parents  or  pastor.  A  pastor  is  a 
shepherd.  The  good  shepherd  knows  his  sheep  by  name  ; 
he  knows  their  peculiarities,  their  relationships,  their  ten- 
dencies.    He  knows  them  as  individuals. 

"Attempting  to  teach  even  little  children,  without  know- 
ing their  temptations  and  surroundings,"  said  the  late 
Israel  P.  Black,  "  is  somewhat  like  a  game  of  blindman's- 
buff,  —  the  teacher  having  the  bandage  over  the  eyes ; 
but,  unlike  it,  it  is  not  a  game  of  innocent  sport,  but  a 
sad  and  hopeless  struggle  to  find  souls." 

The  good  teacher  visits  his  class  at  their  homes.  He 
praises  his  scholars  as  much  as  he  can.  He  may  consult 
parents  about  their  children's  special  needs  and  dangers, 
but  very  rarely,  if  ever,  does  he  report  misdemeanors. 
Professor  James  tells  us,  "  Everything  that  a  man  can 
avoid  under  the  notion  that  it  is  bad,  he  may  also  avoid 
under  the  notion  that  something  else  is  good."  Cultivate 
the  good  side.  He  has  some  form  of  class  organization, 
through  which  he  can  become  acquainted  with  his  scholars, 
set  them  to  work  practising  their  lessons,  and  creating 
a  class  atmosphere  which  can  make  right  things  popular, 
and  frown  down  all  that  is  mean  and  unworthy. 

We  will  ask  our  teacher  only  one  more  question,  and 
then  let  him  go  home  and  rest.  What  is  your  method  of 
making  the  application  of  the  lesson  teachings  ? 

This  is  the  business  end  of  the  whole  Sunday  School 
machinery,  —  its  point  of  contact  with  the  spiritual 
nature,  the  character,  and  conduct.    If  it  fails  here,  it  fails 


THE   TEACHER   AND   HIS   CLASS  61 

in  its  chief  end  and  aim.  Professor  Alexander  R.  Merriam, 
of  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  has  written  a  little 
tract,  costing  only  three  cents,  which  would  be  a  great 
blessing  to  the  whole  Sunday  School  world  if  every  Church 
in  the  land  should  put  a  copy  into  the  hands  of  each 
of  its  teachers.     He  says  :  — 

"Despite  much  criticism  upon  the  Sunday  School,  it 
yet  stands,  to-day,  as  the  most  direct  agency  we  have  for 
personal  religious  impression.  In  much  discussion  to-day, 
its  evangelistic  worth  is  entirely  slighted,  and  attention 
wholly  directed  to  the  pedagogical  features  of  the  Sunday 
School,  as  if  this  were  all  it  stood  for.  It  does  stand  for 
instruction.  But  I  wish  to  vindicate  one  of  the  functions 
of  the  Sunday  School  which  it  has  always  exemplified, 
and  which  it  must  keep  vital  if  it  have  any  distinctive 
place  at  all  in  our  educational  system.  The  mere  educa- 
tional feature  is  distracting  our  teachers  from  one  feature 
which  has  been  for  years  the  Sunday  School's  distinctive 
field,  which  still  is,  and  which,  even  after  changes  come, 
still  must  be  our  great  object :  to  bring  our  scholars  to 
personal  religious  decision,  and  distinctive  training  in 
the  Christian  life.  .  .  .  Let  the  Sunday  School  never 
abdicate  its  throne." 

How  shall  we  attain  this  end  ? 

1.  Not  largely  by  preaching  in  the  sense  of  exhorta- 
tion. "  An  ounce  of  preacher  and  a  pound  of  teacher 
make  a  good  mixture,"  said  a  speaker  at  the  last  World's 
Sunday  School  Convention. 

2.  The  lesson  should  be  so  presented  that  "  out  of  the 
facts  the  truths  must  grow  inevitably  as  the  blossom 
bursts  out  of  a  tree  because  of  the  life  that  is  within." 

A  great  many  teachers  stop  with  the  facts,  and  do  not 


62  THE   FRONT   LINE 

go  through  with  the  application  by  showing  the  relation 
of  the  truth  to  the  life. 

It  is  your  business  to  get  that  spiritual  truth  lodged 
in  the  heart  and  in  the  mind  so  that  it  never  can  be  for- 
gotten again.  But  that  is  not  all.  You  must  see  to  it 
that  that  principle  is  applied  in  the  life,  and  in  making  the 
application,  the  first  step  —  in  a  sermon,  in  personal  work, 
or  in  Sunday  School  work  —  is  to  make  your  truth  concrete. 
A  principle  is  always  an  abstract  thing,  and  that  abstract 
doctrine  must  be  clothed  in  the  terms  of  everyday  life, 
flesh  and  blood,  must  be  told  in  the  shape  that  it  is  to  be 
lived.  It  must  be  made  concrete  by  illustrations,  pictures, 
symbols,  the  story  form,  testimony,  etc. 

Then  the  man  is  left  to  himself  ;  he  must  reach  out  his 
own  hand  and  lay  hold  of  the  truth  and  take  it  into  his 
heart  by  a  voluntary  choice.  Then  when  he  has  chosen 
the  truth  he  must  turn  it  into  action,  voluntary  action, 
and  if  he  does  that  continually,  the  truth  becomes  a  virtue 
of  his  character  because  he  habitually  lives  it.  Habitually 
living  the  truth  is  virtuous  character. ^ 

3.  Three-fourths  of  the  Bible  is  history  and  biography. 
It  teaches  not  only  by  precept,  but  by  life,  by  the  divinely 
interpreted  picture  of  the  way  men  and  nations  were 
struggling  to  work  out  the  commandments  and  purposes 
of  God.  While  discussing  these  things  the  other  day,  a 
prominent  minister  and  university  professor  said  to  me 
that  American  history  was  better  material  for  Sunday 
School  study  than  Jewish  history,  for  God  is  in  modern 

1  Extracts  from  one  of  the  most  thoughtful  addresses  I  ever  read,  on 
"The  Secrets  of  Good  Bible  Teaching,"  by  Professor  Albert  C.  Wieand, 
delivered  before  the  Bible  Teachers'  Training  School  of  New  York,  and 
printed  in  Tlie  Bible  Becord  of  September,  1904. 


THE  TEACHER   AND   HIS   CLASS  63 

history  as  really  as  in  the  history  of  the  Jews,  and  it  is 
closer  to  our  modern  life. 

God  is  in  our  history;  God  is  as  really  guiding  the 
Church  now  as  in  the  days  of  the  apostles.  This  is  what 
Christ  promised  his  disciples.  But  there  is  this  differ- 
ence, —  the  Bible  is  not  only  divinely  guided  but  divinely 
interpreted  history.  It  is  written  by  inspired  prophets 
to  show  us  the  meaning  of  the  history  and  of  all  history. 
And  whenever  we  have  a  modern  history  written  and 
interpreted  by  an  inspired  prophet,  then  modern  history 
can  be  placed  in  the  Sunday  School  alongside  of  Jewish 
history,  and  the  later  Church  history  beside  the  Acts.  It 
is  from  close  contact  with  divinely  interpreted  life  that 
we  are  learning  the  applications  to  our  own  life  and  to 
modern  history. 

I  cannot  express  this  truth  better  than  in  the  words  of 
Miss  Marianna  C.  Brown  in  her  Sunday  School  Movements 
in  America :  "  Each  child  *must,  to  some  extent,  live  over 
again  the  world's  struggles.  If  happily  he  is  brought  up 
as  a  spiritual  plant  and  expands  easily  year  by  year,  he 
needs  the  study  of  man's  spiritual  development  as  shown 
in  sacred  history  and  literature,  in  order  to  enrich  his  life, 
to  give  him  fuller  appreciation  of  why  others  differ  so 
much  from  him,  and  to  make  him  understand  the  historic 
force  of  much  that  is  about  him,  and  is  comparatively 
worthless  except  as  commemorating  struggles  dear  to  the 
human  race.  .  .  .  Bring  him  at  least  once  a  week  into 
close  personal  contact  with  those  who  in  person  or  sym- 
pathy have  passed  through  rough  waters,  and  stand  firm 
on  the  Rock  to  '  stretch  out  a  loving  hand  to  wrestlers 
with  the  troubled  sea.'  " 

4.    The  life  we  live  is  "  a  motived  life,"  and  the  teacher 


64  THE   FRONT   LINE 

is  accomplishing  liis  purpose  wlien  he  presents,  makes 
clear,  distinct,  vivid,  inspiring,  tlie  motives  to  a  Christian 
life  presented  by  the  lesson  of  the  day.  He  desires  to 
lead  his  scholars  to  that  deep,  soul-wide  choice  of  good, 
of  obedience  to  God  his  Father,  and  of  allegiance  to  his 
Leader  Jesus  Christ,  which  is  called  conversion.  It  is 
the  underlying  choice  Avhicli  decides  his  whole  life  for 
good  or  for  evil. 

But  the  teacher  realizes  that  there  are  as  many  ways 
to  this  experience  as  there  are  gates  to  the  City  of  God, 
which  symbolizes  the  results  of  this  experience. 

"  Decision  day "  is  helpful  in  many  cases,  if  it  is  re- 
membered that  in  every  life  there  are  many  decision  days, 
decisions  made  in  view  of  small  duties,  and  daily  tempta- 
tions, in  which  the  one  that  makes  them  does  not  realize 
or  dream  that  he  is  really  making  a  life  choice,  as  the 
slightest  turn  of  the  rudder  in  view  of  some  obstacle  may 
unconsciously  in  time  circle  the  ship  into  an  opposite 
course. 

5.  The  more  personal  application  can  best  be  made  to 
each  scholar  alone,  or  when  only  two  or  three  of  the  same 
mind  are  together. 

The  wisest  day  school  teachers  I  know  are  careful  to 
avoid  the  effect  on  boys  of  what  may  be  called  the  audi- 
ence. The  head  of  a  great  Insane  Asylum  said  to  me  that 
in  managing  his  nervous  patients  he  always  avoided  the 
effect  of  "the  audience."  A  boy  will  steel  himself  against 
yielding  when  other  boys  are  looking  on,  who  will  be 
quite  amenable  to  reason  when  alone.  Few  are  willing 
to  express  their  inmost  feelings  and  desires  within  the 
hearing  of  others.  Get  the  boy  alone  ;  let  him  feel  that 
you  are  not  a  critic  but  a  friend,  that  you  are  like  your 


THE  TEACHER   AND   HIS   CLASS  65 

Master,  who  came  "  not  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the 
world  through  Him  might  be  saved."  A  very  interesting 
and  instructive  example  was  given  by  Mr.  John  T.  Prince, 
of  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Education,  in  an  address 
before  our  Boston  Superintendents'  Unions. 

"  A  Sunday  School  teacher  had  a  class  of  boys  from 
twelve  to  fourteen  years  of  age,  who  had  greatly  troubled 
the  teachers  for  some  time.  Disorder  and  confusion  had 
prevailed  with  every  teacher,  no  teacher  being  willing  to 
continue  for  any  length  of  time.  The  person  alluded  to 
was  a  trained  and  experienced  teacher,  and  it  was  con- 
fidently hoped  that  he  could  control  them.  This  he  did, 
but  he  was  compelled  to  be  severe  in  his  attitude  toward 
them,  stopping  by  stern  command  any  disposition  on  the 
part  of  members  of  the  class  to  disorder  or  diversion  of 
interest.  He  left  his  class  each  Sunday  in  an  unhappy 
frame  of  mind,  and  approached  each  new  recitation  with 
an  indefinable  dread.  .  .  .  On  one  Sunday  only  three 
members  of  the  class  were  present,  and  he  was  surprised 
to  find  how  much  more  attentive  and  interested  they  were 
than  they  had  been  before.  Moreover,  the  boys  seemed  to 
be  more  free  in  their  responses  and  expressions  of  opinion. 
The  teacher  was  encouraged  to  believe  that  there  was  a 
change  for  the  better,  but  when  a  larger  number  of  mem- 
bers were  present  there  was  the  same  restraint  and  ten- 
dency to  disorder.  The  experience  with  the  smaller 
number  was  repeated  on  several  occasions,  and  on  one 
Sunday  it  was  repeated  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave  no  doubt 
in  the  teacher's  mind  as  to  the  cause  of  the  difficulty.  It 
was  the  occasion  of  a  very  stormy  day  when  only  one  boy 
was  present  —  the  one  who  had  given  the  most  trouble  in 
the  class.     On  this  day  the  teacher  was  much  surprised 


6Q  THE  FRONT   LINE 

to  find  how  thoughtful  and  interested  the  boy  was  in  the 
subject  of  the  lesson.  He  gave  freely  of  his  understand- 
ing of  the  subject,  and  asked  pertinent  and  thoughtful 
questions.  In  short  his  entire  attitude  toward  the  Bible 
lesson  Avas  changed." 

6.  Another  most  important  method  is  to  aid  the  scholar 
m  applying  the  lesson  immediately  to  his  own  conduct. 
Professor  William  James  of  Harvard,  both  in  his  latest 
book.  Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psychology,  and  in  his  famous 
chapter  on  "  The  Psychology  of  Habit,"  urges  this  with  all 
his  power.  These  are  good  books  for  the  teacher  to  study. 
His  advice  is,  *'  Don't  preach  too  much  to  your  pupils  or 
abound  in  good  talk  in  the  abstract.  Lie  in  wait  rather  for 
the  practical  opportunities,  and  thus  at  one  operation  get 
your  pupils  to  both  think,  and  feel  and  do.  The  strokes 
of  behavior  are  what  give  the  new  set  to  the  character. 

"  Seize  the  very  first  possible  opportunity  to  act  on  every 
resolution  you  make,  and  on  every  emotional  prompting 
you  may  experience  in  the  direction  of  the  habits  you  aspire 
to  gain.  It  is  not  in  the  moment  of  their  forming,  but  in 
the  moment  of  their  producing  motor  effects,  that  resolves 
and  aspirations  communicate  the  new  '  set '  to  the  'brain. 
Novel  reading  or  theatre  going,  or  even  music,  can  pro- 
duce monsters  in  the  way  of  people  who  feel  but  do  not 
act.  The  remedy  would  be  never  to  suffer  oneself  to  have 
an  emotion,  say  at  a  concert,  without  expressing  it  in  some 
active  way.  Let  the  expression  be  the  least  thing  in  the 
world,  —  speaking  genially  to  one's  aunt,  or  giving  up  one's 
seat  in  the  horse-car,  if  nothing  more  heroic  offers,  —  but 
let  it  not  fail  to  take  place  !  ^ 

1  See  also  Butler's  Analogy,  Part  I,  Chap.  V,  December  2,  on  active 
and  passive  habits. 


THE   TEACHER   AND    HIS   CLASS  67 

"  Remember  that  every  resolve  you  make,  every  good 
impulse  thought  of,  but  not  acted  upon,  every  intention 
to  do  good  or  to  help  the  poor  or  to  make  some  sacrifice, 
every  motive  that  ends  simply  and  solely  in  the  pious 
wish,  does  infinite  harm.  Stamp  the  new  ideal  into  the 
mind  strongly  and  so  vigorously  that  it  remains  fastened 
there,  and  even  crops  up  at  times  when  no  need  occurs. 
This  is  the  point  in  pledge-signing,  in  oath-taking,  in 
going  before  God's  altar  for  impressiveness,  etc.  It 
makes  a  strong  and  powerful  initiative  ;  it  stamps  in  a 
vivid,  never-dying,  ineffaceable  impression." 

7.  Cause  your  class  to  learn  by  heart  some  choice  pas- 
sage of  Scripture  which  teaches  in  immortal  words  the 
main  truth  of  the  lesson. 

I  once  heard  a  musician  lecture  on  the  violin.  He 
described  the  rare  woods  from  which  it  was  made,  the 
half  century  or  more  it  took  to  dry  out  all  its  sap,  the 
seventy-two  pieces  of  which  it  was  composed,  all  strangers 
at  first  and  requiring  a  century  to  become  acquainted, 
like  Kipling's  "sweetening  of  the  ship,"  till  at  last  the 
whole  instrument  vibrates  in  harmony;  and  so  for  an  hour 
of  intense  interest.  I  shall  never  forget  it.  But  the  end 
and  aim  of  all  this  is  the  music.  As  another  has  said, 
"This  is  all  well,  but  give  us  the  music."  There  are  a 
thousand  things  about  the  Bible  that  are  of  intense  inter- 
est, that  awaken  enthusiastic  study.  But  we  cry  out, 
"Give  us  the  music."  Give  us  the  harmonies  of  charac- 
ter, and  of  life,  the  heavenly  experiences,  for  which  all 
these  things  exist. 

Many  a  teacher  has  lain  down  under  Elijah's  juniper 
tree  utterly  discouraged  at  his  seeming  failure.  Yet  as  the 
Lord  saw  seven  thousand  faithful  ones  where  the  prophet 


68  THE   FRONT    LINE 

saw  none,  so  the  Lord  sees  rich  fruits  of  the  teacher's 
labors  where  the  discouraged  heart  sees  "nothing  but 
leaves." 

Let  a  poem,  with  which  Mead,  in  his  Modern  Methods  in 
Sunday  School  Work^solutes  his  readers,  be  the  angel  of  com- 
fort to  help  the  wearied  teacher  to  go  on  in  his  journey  to 
the  mount  where  he  shall  see  the  vision  of  God,  and  hear  "  the 
still  small  voice  "  which  says,  "  Well  done,  good  and  faith- 
ful servant,  .   .  .  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord." 

"  I  wonder  if  he  remembers  — 

Our  sainted  teacher  in  Heaven  — 
The  class  in  the  old  gray  schoolhouse 
Known  as  the  '  Noisy  Seven '  ? 

"  I  wonder  if  he  remembers 
How  restless  we  used  to  be, 
Or  thinks  we  forget  the  lesson 
Of  Christ  and  Gethsemane? 

"  I  wish  1  could  tell  the  story 
As  he  used  to  tell  it  then  ; 
I'm  sure  that,  with  Heaven's  blessing, 
It  would  reach  the  hearts  of  men. 

"  I  often  wish  I  could  tell  him, 

Though  we  caused  him  so  much  pain 
By  our  thoughtless,  boyish  frolic, 
His  lessons  were  not  in  vain. 

<'  I'd  like  to  tell  him  how  AVillie, 
The  merriest  of  us  all, 
From  the  field  of  Balaclava, 

Went  home  at  the  Master's  call. 

"  I'd  like  to  tell  him  how  Ronald, 

So  brimming  with  mirth  and  fun, 
Now  tells  the  heathen  of  India 
The  tale  of  the  Crucified  One. 


THE   TEACHER    AND    HIS    CLASS  69 

"  I'd  like  to  tell  him  how  Robert, 

And  Jamie,  and  George,  and  '  Ray/ 
Are  honored  in  the  Church  of  God  — 
The  foremost  men  of  their  day. 

«  I'd  like,  yes,  I'd  like  to  tell  him 
What  his  lesson  did  for  me  ; 
And  how  I  am  trying  to  follow 
The  Christ  of  Gethsemane. 

"  Perhaps  he  knows  it  already, 
For  Willie  has  told,  maybe, 
That  we  are  all  coming,  coming, 
Through  Christ  of  Gethsemane. 

"  How  many  besides  I  know  not 
Will  gather  at  last  in  Heaven, 
The  fruit  of  that  faithful  sowing. 
But  the  sheaves  are  already  seven." 

—  Anonymous. 

It  is  recorded  of  one  of  the  most  distinguislied  painters 
of  former  days  that  when  he  was  a  mere  boy,  after  view- 
ing a  painting  by  Raphael  for  some  time  with  silent  trans- 
port, he  suddenly  broke  out,  with  joy  beaming  in  his 
countenance,  as  if  he  had  found  a  treasure,  "  I,  too,  am  a 
painter." 

Dr.  Payson  of  Portland  once  said  that  if  ministers 
realized  the  blessing  and  the  opportunity  God  had  con- 
ferred upon  them,  they  would  leap  and  shout  for  joy,  cry- 
ing, "I  am  a  minister  of  Christ ;  I  am  a  minister  of 
Christ." 

If  Sunday  School  teachers  realized  their  privilege,  the 
blessedness  of  teaching,  of  guiding  children  into  the  ways 
of  life,  they  would  exult,  and  glory,  and  give  thanks,  for 
"  /,  too^  am  a  teacher  of  children ;  I  have  a  class  in  the 
Sunday  School. " 


IV 


HOW  CAN    BUSINESS    MEN    AND    BUSY    WOMEN    BEST 
PREPARE   THEIR  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  LESSON? 

A  NEIGHBORING  pastor  once  asked  me  to  come  up  to 
his  church  and  talk  to  his  Sunday  School  teachers,  and 
the  subject  he  wished  me  to  speak  upon  was,  "  How  can 
Business  Men  and  Busy  Women  best  Prepare  their  Sunday 
School  Lessons?" 

I  was  then,  as  I  always  have  been,  a  very  busy  man, 
and  was  just  entering  upon  my  present  work,  while  at 
the  same  time  pastor  of  a  large  and  growing  Church  and 
Sunday  School.  I  had,  therefore,  been  compelled  to  study 
how  to  do  the  most  work  with  the  least  friction,  and  to 
find  out  every  possible  labor-saving  device  that  would 
give  the  best  results. 

Some  of  these  I  will  mention  in  this  discussion,  and 
will  consider  others  when  we  come  to  Bible  study  for  the 
Sunday  School. 

Most  ministers  are  the  busiest  of  men,  and  nearly  all 
the  Sunday  School  teachers  are  taken,  or  ought  to  be 
taken,  from  the  busiest  men  and  women  of  their  Churches. 
I  am  not  speaking  to  you  as  ministers,  but  as  those  who 
are  to  help  these  busy  men  and  women  to  do  the  best  pos- 
sible work  for  their  scholars.  If  you  can  gain  from  the 
simple  things  I  may  say  any  hint  to  busy  men  and  women 
untrained  in  this  direction,  so  much  the  better,  but  in  the 

70 


PREPAKING   THE   LESSON  71 

main  you  will  doubtless  work  them  out  for  yourselves, 
just  as  I  have  done.  My  chief  qualification  for  helping 
teachers  lies  in  the  difficulties  that  I,  as  one  of  no  special 
talents,  have  experienced  and  have  been  compelled  to 
overcome  as  I  could.  You  will  learn  in  time,  as  I  have 
learned,  the  truth  of  that  Greek  proverb,  old  as  Herodotus 
and  JEschylus,  Ta  pathemata  mathemata^  —  The  things 
we  have  experienced,  our  burdens,  our  difficulties,  our 
struggles,  our  sufferings,  are  the  things  that  teach  us. 
I  have  always  .written  slowly ;  my  thoughts  do  not  easily 
crystallize  into  the  best  form ;  but  always  I  have  tried  to 
do  "my  level  best."  This  standing  on  the  level  of  the 
great  majority  is  not  without  its  advantages  and  consola- 
tions. I  hear  teachers,  when  some  teaching  genius  speaks 
to  them,  say,  Your  words  and  plans  are  all  right  for  a 
genius,  but  what  help  is  there  for  us  who  are  not  geniuses, 
but  just  common  people  of  ordinary  talent?  Please  tell 
us  what  we  can  do. 

I  think  that  for  the  teacher,  and  for  the  preacher  so  far 
as  he  is  a  teacher,  the  parable  of  the  Pounds  is  more  help- 
ful than  the  parable  of  the  Talents  ;  that  it  is  better  for 
him  to  be  one  of  the  multitude  to  whom  one  pound  is 
committed,  provided  he  multiplies  that  one  into  ten,  than 
to  be  one  of  the  few  who  receive  five  talents,  and  only 
doubles  them  into  ten. 

When  I  was  pastor  of  a  village  church  I  used  to  try  to 
keep  the  small  grounds  around  my  house  as  neat  and 
beautiful  as  I  could,  and  I  experimented  with  various 
plants  and  methods  to  see  how  much  could  be  done  with 
the  least  labor  and  expense,  hoping  that  others  would 
take  the  hint  and  the  appearance  of  the  village  be  im- 
proved.    Among  other  things  I  arranged  a  flower-bed  in 


72  THE  FRONT   LINE 

front  of  the  house  and  placed  a  fountain  in  the  centre. 
One  bright  Saturday  afternoon  a  minister,  a  stranger,  came 
up  the  street  to  see  me,  and,  seeing  a  fountain  in  front 
of  the  house  to  which  he  was  directed,  said  to  himself, 
"  This  cannot  be  the  place ;  a  minister  cannot  afford  to 
have  a  fountain,"  and  he  passed  on  to  the  next  house. 
An  hour  later  another  minister  did  the  same  thing.  And 
yet  that  fountain  had  an  old  paint  keg  for  a  base;  on 
the  top  was  nailed  a  large,  discarded  dishpan;  through 
them  was  placed  a  piece  of  rain-conductor  left  over  when 
building  the  house;  the  whole  was  painted  with  some 
left-over  paint,  and  the  hose  with  an  ordinary  sprinkler 
was  passed  up  through  it.  An  old  paint  keg,  a  leaky 
dishpan,  and  a  waste  piece  of  conductor  made  a  fountain 
that  a  minister  could  not  afford  to  have  ! 

That  is  a  good  illustration  of  what  I  propose  to  bring 
you  to-day,  so  that  no  teacher  need  go  away  discouraged, 
as  I  have  known  teachers  to  be  after  hearing  the  ideal 
teacher  portrayed  at  conventions.  They  determined  to  give 
up  their  classes  because  the  star  to  which  they  were  told 
to  hitch  their  Sunday  School  wagons  was  too  far  beyond 
their  reach. 

I.  It  goes  without  saying  that  every  teacher  means  to 
be  prepared.  I  am  now  speaking  of  special  preparation 
for  a  particular  lesson,  not  of  that  kind  of  preparation 
to  which  the  minister  referred  "  when  he  truly  said  he 
had  been  thirty  years  preparing  his  sermon,  although, 
perhaps,  the  immediate  preparation  of  the  discourse  had 
taken  but  a  few  hours.  Thirty  years'  life,  with  its  ex- 
periences, had  gone  into  the  sermon.  According  to 
Mr.  Spurgeon,  "  a  minister  once  said,  '  Sir,  I  go  into  the 
pulpit  and  preach  and  think  nothing  of  it,'  and  the  one 


PREPARING   THE   LESSON  73 

to  whom  he  made  that  remark  said,  'And  that  is  just 
what  your  people  think  of  it.'  If  you  can  go  to  your 
class  and  teach  as  easily  as  possible  without  any  prepara- 
tion, depend  upon  it  as  you  think  nothing  of  it  your  chil- 
dren will  think  nothing  of  it."  Such  men  ''toil  not,  but 
they  spin."  There  is  little  use  in  talking  to  that  teacher 
—  rare  as  the  dodo,  I  trust  —  who  thinks  that  the  Lord 
can  or  will  do  as  good  work  through  his  ignorance  as 
through  his  knowledge ;  or  who  does  not  see  the  common 
sense  of  the  farmer  who  advised  his  son  to  load  his  gun 
before  he  fired. 

II.  Neither  is  it  necessary  to  dwell  upon  the  necessity 
of  opening  our  hearts  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  alone  can 
make  our  teaching  effective. 

III.  The  keynote  of  the  time-saving  process  is  to  fill  the 
mind  with  the  subject  and  main  points  of  the  lesson  early 
in  the  week^  preferably  Sunday  afternoon.  Read  over  the 
lesson,  read  it  in  different  translations,  in  the  original  if 
you  can,  or  in  the  different  languages  you  may  know,  each 
one  flashing  out  light  on  some  point  or  facet  not  seen  so 
clearly  in  the  others.  Some  truths,  too,  are  brought  out 
more  distinctly  by  reading  the  passage  aloud. 

Note  that  it  is  important  to  read  the  whole  lesson  and 
not  merely  the  verses  selected  for  printing  in  the  Quarter- 
lies, "the  gist  of  the  lesson."  The  International  Lesson 
Committee  has  always  implied,  and  for  a  number  of  years 
has  expressly  stated  with  each  lesson,  that  the  lesson  is 
more  than  the  verses  selected  for  printing  and  detailed 
study,  but  is  a  whole  section  of  the  history.  And  yet, 
there  are  not  only  teachers,  but  even  lesson  writers  and 
wise  critics  who  have  "an  acute  attack  of  inadequate 
information "  on  this  point.     But  no  good   teacher  does 


74  THE   FRONT   LINE 

confine  himself  to  the  verses  printed  in  the  Quarterlies, 
nor  do  the  best  ''helps."  Read  the  whole  lesson  section 
carefully,  if  the  lesson  be  historical ;  and  remember,  if  the 
lesson  is  doctrinal,  that  every  great  doctrine  is  revealed 
in  several  forms,  in  didactic  statement,  in  history,  in 
parable,  in  life,  and  in  song,  —  and  we  need  them  all  in 
order  to  see  the  doctrine  as  it  really  is. 

IV.  The  next  time-saving,  and  at  the  same  time  soul- 
blessing,  means  is  to  use  the  next  Sunday's  lesson  for  some 
part  of  your  daily  devotional  reading  every  day  in  the  week. 
Use  it  for  family  prayers  with  your  children.  I  have 
great  faith  in  the  power  of  looking  —  looking  intently, 
steadily,  continuously  —  at  a  single  passage  of  Scripture 
till  it  is  illuminated,  transfigured.  That  is  what  Agassiz 
told  his  students  to  do  in  studying  even  a  fish.  That 
is  what  Professor  Drummond  said  a  naturalist  must  do 
in  studying  nature.  "  To  watch  uninterruptedly  the 
same  few  yards  of  universe  unfold  its  complex  history ; 
to  behold  the  hourly  resurrection  of  new  living  things, 
and  miss  no  change  or  circumstance,  even  of  its  minute 
parts,  to  look  at  all,  especially  the  things  you'  have  seen 
before  a  hundred  times,  to  do  all  with  patience  and  rever- 
ence —  this  is  the  only  way  to  study  nature."  ^ 

I  have  heard  two  opposite  opinions  concerning  such  a 
use  of  one's  devotional  hours,  from  men  known  through- 
out the  whole  country.  One  declared  that  we  should 
never  take  for  our  devotional  reading  the  lesson  we  are  to 
teach.  The  other  said  that  it  was  the  very  soul  and  glory 
of  devotion  to  do  that  very  thing.  My  whole  experience 
favors  the  latter  view.  Whenever  a  passage  of  Scripture 
touches  my  soul  and  sets  it  on  fire,  then  I  am  prepared  to 
1  Tropical  Africa,  p.  110. 


PEEPARING   THE   LESSON  75 

kindle  with  it  the  souls  of  my  pupils  or  my  people.  When- 
ever I  have  studied  a  scripture  till  I  see  in  it  a  new  mean- 
ing, till  it  inspires  and  uplifts  me,  makes  me  love  God 
better,  and  my  fellow-men,  reveals  to  me  a  new  vision  of 
truth,  then  only  am  I  best  fitted  to  preach  or  to  teach. 
Every  powerful  sermon  is  preached  first  to  the  minister 
himself,  and  after  that  to  his  congregation,  and  it  tells  on 
other  people  because  he  can  say,  "  We  speak  that  we  do 
know,  and  bear  witness  of  that  we  have  seen." 

In  one  of  his  poems  Browning  relates  a  parable  of  the 
Two  Camels,  which  needs  no  further  interpretation  than 
the  telling.  The  two  camels,  beasts  of  price,  both  dedi- 
cated themselves  to  their  master's  service ;  both  were  to 
carry  for  him  precious  burdens  across  the  desert.  One 
did  all  he  could  to  save  his  master  expense;  he  ate  the 
poorest  food,  and  as  little  of  it  as  possible,  and  then,  by 
his  lack  of  strength,  he  fell  dead  in  the  desert,  thieves 
stole  his  pack,  and  his  master  had  neither  camel  nor  mer- 
chandise. The  other  camel  ate  the  best  food  and  ate  all  he 
needed,  —  "  no  sprig  of  chevril  must  I  leave  unche wed,"  — 
and  was  able  to  pass  through  the  desert  safely  with  his 
burden,  and  his  master  had  both  camel  and  burden.  Feed 
yourself,  if  you  would  be  strong  to  feed  others. 

"Just  as  I  cannot,  till  myself  convinced, 
Impart  conviction,  so,  to  deal  forth  joy 
Adroitly,  needs  must  I  know  joy  myself." 

V.  Next  in  order,  still  at  the  very  beginning  of  the 
week,  the  right  use  of  the  best  helps  you  can  obtain,  usu- 
ally of  more  than  one  kind.  It  is  curious  to  note  how 
some  people  object  to  Bible  helps  even  for  children, 
calling  them  crutches  for  the  lame,  in  the  very  addresses 


76  THE    FRONT   LINE 

and  books  which  they  use  to  help  people  toward  their 
views,  and  for  which  they  have  used  helps  all  their  lives. 

Everybody  has  to  use  helps ;  the  disputed  question  is  at 
what  period  of  our  study  we  are  to  use  them. 

My  father  taught  me  when  a  schoolboy,  that  in  writing 
a  composition  I  should  think  out  the  subject  for  myself 
before  reading  what  others  had  said  concerning  it.  Pro- 
fessor Amos  R.  Wells,  one  of  the  wisest  men  I  know,  says 
in  his  richly  suggestive  book  on  Sunday  School  Success, 
which  all  ought  to  study,  and  says  with  the  emphasis  of 
italics,  "  Let  me  emphasize  this  statement :  Not  a  single 
lesson  help  should  be  touched  until  everything  possible  to 
be  learned  about  the  lesson  from  the  Bible  directly  has 
been  learned." 

Another  writer  expresses  himself  thus  :  "  One  reason 
why  I  have  been  myself  averse  to  using  the  lesson  journals 
is  this  ;  The  matter  is  too  convenient ;  it  tempts  me  to 
ignore  the  Bible,  from  which  all  inspiration  for  the  work 
is  derived  ;  it  comes  easily  and  I  forget  it  as  readily,  and 
so  the  preparation  is  not  clear  and  definite.  The  place 
for  the  Sunday  School  paper  comes  after  you  have  mas- 
tered the  knowledge  in  other  ways." 

Now  the  teaching  of  my  whole  experience  and  observa- 
tion is  this :  Do  not  wait  till  you  have  thought  out  your 
subject,  but  begin  early  in  your  thinking  to  use  what 
others  have  learned,  and  let  the  two  processes  go  on  to- 
gether. I  am  aware  that  this  is  somewhat  heterodox,  but 
it  is  both  wisdom  and  truth  for  the  persons  whom  I  am 
advising. 

I  am  not  writing  for  theological  professors,  nor  for 
students  who  have  unlimited  time  at  their  command,  nor 
for  men  of  genius  who  can  use  the  above  advice,  but  for 


PREPARING   THE   LESSON  77 

busy  men  and  women,  and  for  some  busy  ministers  who  may 
"taste  the  spices  of  Arabia,  yet  never  feel  the  scorching 
sun  which  brings  them  forth."  For  them  I  can  see  only 
one  wise  way  in  which  to  get  the  most  out  of  their  time. 

Of  course  the  Bible  is  to  be  first  read,  and  its  state- 
ments made  familiar.  I  have  no  sympathy  with  the 
young  man  who  some  years  ago  came  into  a  Sunday  School 
bookstore  in  Boston  and  said  he  wanted  to  purchase  a 
book  called  The  Bible  Wholly  Commentary.  He  meant 
The  Commentary  Wholly  Biblical. 

But  in  the  early  part  of  the  week  the  busy  man  should 
use  some  good  explanatory  and  suggestive  helps.  It  is 
like  a  personally  conducted  tour  of  Europe.  A  wise  and 
trained  conductor,  with  a  small  party,  will  give  the  great 
majority  of  people,  on  their  first  tour,  twice  as  much  of 
the  best  things,  in  the  same  time,  as  they  could  gain  by 
going  alone.  After  that  experience  each  one  can  go 
alone  and  make  a  detailed  study  with  advantage.  A  man 
of  wealth  came  to  a  period  of  leisure  and  tried  to  under- 
stand art.  He  went  to  art  galleries,  but  returned  unable 
to  distinguish  a  good  picture  from  a  bad  one.  He  said, 
"The  idea  that  there  must  be  a  real,  true  value  in  art, 
and  that  I  could  not  find  it,  took  so  strong  a  hold  of  me 
that  I  became  restless,  nervous,  irritable."  He  went  to 
an  artist,  who  taught  him,  not  how  to  paint,  but  how  to 
see.  He  had  the  same  experience  with  music,  till  a  musi- 
cian taught  him,  not  how  to  sing,  but  how  to  hear.  They 
gave  him  what  he  could  not  obtain  alone,  —  the  way  to  a 
never-dreamed-of  delight. 

1.  It  is  necessary  to  get  the  true  interpretation  of  the 
passage  in  order  to  think  correctly  at  all.  Then  there 
are  whole  ranges  of  thought  that  the  busy  man  is  likely 


78  THE   FKONT  LINE 

to  omit  because  he  does  not  even  know  that  they  exist. 
He  may  easily  miss  the  new  light  thrown  upon  the  text 
by  the  study  of  the  Bible  as  literature  ;  by  the  historic 
study  which  places  each  prophecy  or  event  in  its  native 
historical  setting ;  by  the  meaning  of  particular  words, 
such  as  "  conversation,"  "  instant,"  '^  offend,"  which  is 
different  from  their  meaning  as  used  to-day. 

What  is  the  use  of  going  on  thinking  in  the  wrong 
direction  and  gathering  materials  which,  as  soon  as  one 
uses  his  "  helps,"  must  be  discarded  ? 

In  our  family,  where  there  are  no  young  children,  we 
have  found  it  both  interesting  and  helpful  to  use  the 
introductions  in  Moulton's  Modern  Reader  8  Bihle^  some- 
times spending  a  whole  week  on  the  introduction  to  a 
single  book  before  we  read  the  book  itself.  Of  course, 
before  that  we  have  a  general  knowledge  of  the  book  ; 
but  the  reading  the  book  in  the  light  of  his  words  has 
added  greatly  to  its  beauty  and  power. 

2.  In  the  next  place,  the  more  material  for  thought  one 
has  the  more  valuable  his  thinking.  Fill  up  the  wells, 
and  then  you  will  no  longer  have  the 

"  Toil  of  dropping  buckets  into  empty  wells 
And  growing  old  in  drawing  nothing  out." 

8.  Most  of  us  can  think  better  under  the  inspiration  of 
others'  suggestions.  In  the  words  of  another  :  "  Reading 
is  really  an  invaluable  help  to  the  best  thinking.  It  fur- 
nishes both  the  materials  and  an  incentive  to  thinking. 
It  stimulates  the  mind  to  put  forth  its  best  energies,  while 
it  broadens  the  field  for  thought ;  and,  in  general,  it  may 
be  said  truthfully  that  he  who  does  not  read  does  not 
think  much." 


PREPARING   THE   LESSON  79 

I  well  remember  how,  after  I  had  wandered  over  the 
British  Museum,  especially  those  parts  which  throw  light 
upon  the  Bible,  I  found  a  person  who  in  a  few  moments 
pointed  out  things  of  great  value,  which  I  could  not  have 
learned  by  myself  had  I  stayed  there  a  year.  After  that 
I  studied  them  for  myself.  Every  reader  and  thinker  has 
read  books  which  have  been  to  him  almost  like  a  new 
revelation.  Every  little  while  in  my  life  I  have  come 
across  such  books,  which  have  marked  almost  epochs  in 
the  development  of  thought  and  work.  They  have  been 
like  the  secret  doors  in  an  old  castle,  unnoticed  till  pointed 
out  by  some  one  acquainted  with  them,  and  then  opening 
into  treasures  of  gold  and  art. 

4.  Some  wise  man,  in  giving  advice  to  writers,  says  : 
"  Be  original.  ...  In  order  to  become  original,  one  must, 
as  a  rule,  go  through  a  period  of  being  deliberately  imita- 
tive. One  must  soak  one's  self  in  the  great  stylists, 
Keats,  Tennyson,  Rossetti,  etc.,  and  then  consciously  adapt, 
borrow,  and  copy,  until  one  finally  learns  to  stand  alone. 
The  period  of  needing  masters  will  pass  in  time,  but  one 
cannot  be  too  teachable  at  first." 

This  is  wise  advice  for  Sunday  School  teachers.  Be 
original.  Work  out  your  own  plan,  according  to  your 
own  natural  bent  and  the  kind  of  scholars  you  are  teach- 
ing. But  first  saturate  yourself  with  the  text  and  the 
theme,  and  all  the  knowledge  you  can  gain  concerning 
them  from  every  source.  "  Imitation,"  says  Professor 
Home,  "  is  a  mere  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  to  originality." 

It  is  a  waste  of  time  to  learn  everything  for  one's  self 
from  the  very  beginning.  The  architect  studies  all  the 
architecture  of  the  world.  The  artist  goes  to  all  the  great 
galleries  and  sees  the  best  paintings  genius  has  been  able 


80  THE   FRONT   LINE 

to  paint.  Then,  and  only  then,  can  each  do  his  best 
original  work. 

You  must  do  your  own  work,  you  must  be  an  original 
thinker,  and  work  out  the  problems  for  yourselves  ;  you 
cannot  be  "  carried  to  the  skies  on  flowery  beds  of  ease  " 
which  others  have  made.  But  you  can  be  most  original 
when  you  know  what  others  have  done  before  you,  and 
you  stand  on  the  mountain  tops  the  heir  of  all  the  ages, 
and  climb  higher  and  enjoy  a  wider  vision. 

But  if  you  cannot  be  original,  you  can  choose  from  the 
best  set  before  you  by  others,  and  standing  on  the  moun- 
tains they  have  built  is  far  better  than  to  remain  in  the 
shadows  of  your  own  valley. 

VI.  While  using  the  Helps,  still  early  in  the  week,  you 
can  form  a  clear  idea  of  the  framework  or  setting  of  the 
lesson.  The  more  vivid  it  is  to  you,  the  better  for  those 
you  are  intending  to  teach. 

There  are  various  simple  methods  of  accomplishing  this 
end.  Mark  in  the  Bible  history  the  place  where  the 
prophets  belong,  writing  their  names  on  the  margin. 
Make  the  geography  clear  by  locating  the  places  in  your 
own  neighborhood  which  have  the  same  relations.  Using 
your  church  as  the  centre,  as  symbolizing  the  Temple,  you 
can  in  your  own  town  represent  every  location  in  Jerusalem 
which  Jesus  has  hallowed,  by  places  or  buildings  at  the 
same  distances  and  in  the  same  directions,  making  real 
how  far  Jesus  went  to  Olivet,  or  the  upper  room,  or  the 
pool  of  Siloam,  or  to  Calvary.  You  can  realize  the  travels 
of  Jesus,  and  of  Paul,  of  the  Exiles  and  their  return,  by 
distances  and  towns  in  your  own  state. 

In  Tom  Broivn  at  Oxford  the  leading  scholar  is  repre- 
sented as  learning  his  Greek  history  b}^  means  of  a  map  on 


PREPARING   THE   LESSON  '  81 

the  wall,  and  pins  with  large  heads  made  of  sealing-wax 
of  different  colors.  One  army  was  represented  by  pins 
with  red  heads,  the  other  by  pins  with  black  heads.  Thus 
in  the  famous  retreat  of  the  ten  thousand,  wherever  the 
armies  encamped  there  the  pins  were  placed,  and  were 
moved  with  every  movement  of  the  troops,  so  many  para- 
sangs  to  this  city,  and  so  many  to  that,  till  the  whole  line 
of  march  was  traced  visibly  on  the  wall.  Not  only  was 
the  history  remembered  better,  but  the  distance,  the  direc- 
tions, the  reasons  for  changes,  the  difficulties  overcome, 
the  skill  and  courage  required,  were  seen  as  in  no  other 
way. 

During  the  Civil  War,  several  ministers  in  my  neighbor- 
hood carried  out  the  same  plan.  Whenever  any  report 
came  of  a  march  or  a  battle,  the  pins  were  changed  to  cor- 
respond. We  might  easily  have  added  pins  with  card- 
board fliers  to  indicate  battle-fields. 

I  once  tried  a  similar  experiment  with  the  Intermediate 
Department  of  our  Sunday  School,  following  on  the  map 
the  footsteps  of  Jesus.  Some  one  of  the  scholars  moved  a 
large-headed  pin  to  mark  the  places  and  directions  where 
he  went  when  teaching  in  Galilee  or  walking  to  Judea.^ 

1  Mr.  Marion  Lawrance,  who  has  built  up  an  almost  ideal  school  in 
Toledo,  Ohio,  describes  a  very  interesting  plan  used  there  :  "  We  had  a 
map  of  the  Holy  Land  and  Asia  Minor.  We  were  illustrating  the  mis- 
sionary work  of  Paul.  The  idea  that  the  church  was  a  bright  light,  and 
every  Christian  a  light,  was  emphasized.  The  map  was  put  upon  a  large 
soft  pine  board.  Wherever  there  were  churches,  —  for  instance,  at  Jeru- 
salem, Antioch,  Ephesus,  etc.,  —  a  number  of  holes  were  punched  into  the 
board  with  an  awl.  In  these  holes  were  set  parlor  matches  with  the  heads 
up.  A  row  of  holes  marked  out  the  pathway  Paul  travelled,  first  to  Anti- 
och, then  across  to  Asia  Minor,  and  back  and  forth.  Have  the  board  set 
at  a  slight  angle,  so  that  it  can  be  seen  by  the  people  in  the  room.  The 
matches  should  be  close  enough  together  so  that  one  would  set  fire  to 


82  THE   FRONT   LINE 

This  same  plan,  with  some  additions,  may  be  followed 
with  reference  to  any  history  in  the  Bible,  either  in  the 
home  or  in  the  class,  or  before  the  whole  school.  Pins 
with  sealing-wax  heads  of  different  sizes  and  colors  may 
represent  the  apostles  and  missionaries  whose  work  is 
recorded.  A  box  of  cardboard  letters,  such  as  are 
used  in  the  familiar  letter  games,  can  be  obtained  for 
a  trifle,  and  the  initial  letters  of  the  chief  places  can 
be  fastened  as  fliers  on  pins,  and  mark  the  spots  where 
the  leading  events  take  place  as  they  are  reached  in 
the  history. 

I  well  remember  the  first  Chautauqua  Reading  Circle 
formed  in  my  parish.  We  were  reading  Merivale's  His- 
tory of  Rome,  We  were  meeting  one  evening  at  the  house 
of  a  large  farmer.  We  were  trying  to  realize  the  scenes 
and  events  at  Rome,  which,  at  that  time,  none  of  us  had 
seen.  But  we  took  a  long  woollen  tippet,  and  curved  it 
on  the  parlor  floor  as  the  Tiber  curves  through  Rome. 
Milk  pans  placed  bottom  upward  represented  the  Seven 
Hills  of  Rome  —  Capitoline,  Aventine,  Pincian,  and  all 
the  rest.  We  marked  the  places  where  the  historic  events 
occurred.  A  piece  of  wood  across  the  woollen  Tiber 
shoAved  where  Horatius  kept  the  bridge.  We  saw  the 
Tarpeian  Rock,  the  Forum,  the  Appian  Way.     So  vivid 

another.  At  the  right  time  in  the  exercises  speak  of  what  a  great  light  in 
the  world  the  Jerusalem  Church  was.  If  you  have  a  dozen  or  more 
matches  representing  that  church,  the  flame  will  rise  a  foot  high.  Pres- 
ently the  line  of  matches  will  catch  fire,  and  this  will  represent  Paul 
starting  out  to  Antioch,  When  he  arrives  there,  there  is  another  bright 
light  representing  the  church  at  Antioch.  Then  he  starts  across  to  Cy- 
prus, etc.,  and  to  Asia  Minor.  Everybody  in  the  room  will  be  intensely 
interested  to  notice  his  travels  as  he  goes.  I  would  not  recommend  this 
indiscriminately,  but  it  did  well  with  us." 


PREPARING    THE   LESSON  83 

was  the  picture  that  when,  later,  I  went  to  Rome,  that 
crude  Rome  on  the  parlor  floor  helped  me  to  more  easily 
understand  the  great  city. 

Take  another  instance.  George  Adam  Smith,  in  his 
G-eography  of  the  Holy  Land^  pictures  the  scenery  around 
the  Well  Harod,  where  Gideon  and  his  three  bands  over- 
came the  Midianites,  so  that  it  is  easy  to  see  the  reasons 
for  the  choice  of  the  three  hundred.  The  well  and  the 
little  stream  that  divided  the  armies  are  bordered  with  a 
thicket  of  tall  reeds,  so  that  any  number  of  the  enemy 
might  be  lurking  there  in  ambush.  The  great  majority 
of  the  citizen  soldiers  never  thought  of  the  danger,  and 
kneeled  down  and  drank  from  the  stream  where  they 
would  be  helpless  in  a  sudden  attack.  But  there  were 
three  hundred,  sharp,  shrewd,  wide  awake,  who,  with  their 
eyes  on  the  forest  of  reeds,  holding  their  Aveapons,  merely 
stooping,  threw  the  water  with  their  hands  into  their 
mouths,  and  were  never  off  their  guard. 

These  were  the  men  Gideon  wanted  for  his  dangerous 
expedition.  The  dullest  boy  in  the  class  will  wake  up 
and  understand,  when  the  teacher,  who  sees  the  picture 
himself,  describes  and  gestures  that  scene. ^  Note  how 
beautifully  Whittier,  in  his  Chapel  of  the  Hermits^  uses  a 
similar  method :  — 

1  Bishop  Vincent,  in  his  Modern  Sunday  School,  gives  another  ilhis- 
tration  of  this  method  :  "  A  minister  once  located  the  principal  characters 
of  universal  history  on  a  single  street,  — a  long  street,  many  miles  long,  — 
chronologically  so  divided  that  his  pupils  could  locate  '  Alexander's  house' 
and  the  '  house  of  Moses '  and  the  '  house  of  Napoleon,'  so  that  the  street 
became  a  constant  reminder  of  not  only  illustrious  names  in  history,  but 
a  chronological  guide  always  present.  'I  passed,'  said  a  little  fellow, 
'  Alexander's  house  this  morning  on  the  way  from  the  post-office,  and  it 
was  not  very  far  from  the  house  of  Aristotle.'  " 


84  THE   FRONT    LINE 

"This  maiole  ridge  shall  Iloreb  be, 
Yon  green-banked  lake  our  Galilee. 

"  The  heavens  are  glassed  in  Merrimac, 
What  more  could  Jordan  render  back ! 

"  We  lack  but  open  eye  and  ear 
To  find  the  Orient's  marvels  here ; 
The  still,  small  voice  in  autumn's  hush, 
Yon  mai3le  wood  the  burning  bush. 

"  Our  common  daily  life  divine, 
And  every  land  a  Palestine." 

So  much  time  has  been  consumed  in  describing  these 
things  that  it  may  seem  as  if  too  hirge  a  proportion  of  the 
study  hour  had  been  devoted  to  them,  to  the  exclusion  of 
the  spiritual  and  practical  lessons.  But,  in  fact,  the  very 
briefest  time  is  taken  up  in  any  one  lesson.  They  are 
the  black  wires  which  conduct  the  electricity  to  the  lamps, 
of  no  use  unless  the  current  flows  through  them  and  the 
lamps  are  lighted.  It  is  the  teacher's  business  to  light 
them.  But  they  cannot  be  lighted  without  the  wires. 
It  is  only  dead  pipes  and  wires  painfully  built  up  into 
the  glass  cross  on  the  tall  spire  at  Cohoes;  but  when 
lighted,  that  cross  shines  in  symbolic  glory  over  the 
whole  landscape. 

VII.  Early  in  the  week  must  be  formed  a  tentative 
plan  of  the  lesson,  in  which  the  leading  topics  or  thoughts 
shall  stand  out  clear,  distinct,  vivid,  living,  all  bearing 
on  the  one  principal  theme,  which  should  be  like  the 
golden  milestone  of  ancient  Rome,  the  central  focus  of 
roads  from  every  province  of  the  Empire. 

Until  this  takes  place  the  lesson  is  like  the  man  in 
bottles  in  South  Kensington  Museum,  or  rather  the  rep- 
resentation of  a  man  resolved  into  the  chemical  elements 


PREPARING    THE   LESSON  85 

of  which  his  body  is  composed,  each  element  there,  in  its 
due  proportion,  in  a  separate  bottle,  but  not  a  man.  The 
teacher  is  to  be  a  new  Frankenstein  to  recreate  the  ele- 
ments into  a  living,  organized  being. 

VIII.  We  are  now  prepared  for  that  unconscious  cere- 
bration, and  what  may  be  called  crystallization,  which  are 
tlie  chief  time-saving  processes  in  preparing  the  lesson. 
As  a  string  in  a  saturated  solution  at  rest  will  gather 
about  itself  crystals  of  that  which  is  dissolved,  so  will  a 
living  thought  in  a  fall  mind  gather  to  itself  other 
thoughts  from  every  source  and  form  definite  crystals 
of  truth.  If  you  wish  good  flowers  from  a  hyacinth 
bulb,  you  must  put  it  aw\ay  in  the  dark  for  weeks  in 
order  that  it  may  become  thoroughly  rooted  before  the 
flower  stalk  rises  into  bloom.  You  will  notice  on  the 
trees  in  autumn  the  buds  which  after  sleeping  all  winter 
burst  into  leaves  and  blossoms  in  the  spring.  Why  this 
long  winter  sleep  is  necessary  I  do  not  know.  But  it  has 
its  parallel  in  the  operations  of  the  mind. 

"When  a  man  takes  up  a  subject  and  holds  it  in  his 
mind,  now  and  then  recurring  to  it  and  calling  it  up  and 
looking  at  it,  and  then  putting  it  back  to  sleep  over  it,  he 
comes  at  length  to  its  thorough  mastery.  It  is  a  good 
thing  to  sleep  over  a  subject." 

I  am  always  glad  to  have  the  testimony  of  successful 
men  to  the  things  my  own  experience  has  taught  me.  Dr. 
William  M.  Taylor,  in  showing  ministers  how  to  prepare 
their  sermons,  gives  his  experience  thus :  "  He  will  have 
work  enough  for  two  mornings  at  least  in  reading  over  in 
the  original  the  passage  that  is  to  come  in  course  on  the 
next  Sunday,  and  in  carefully  weighing  all  that  has  been 
written  upon  it  by  the  commentators  whose  works  are  on 


86  THE   FRONT   LINE 

his  shelves.  Let  him  mark  the  thoughts  that  are  of  special 
importance  in  each,  and  read  on  until  he  is,  as  it  were, 
saturated  with  his  theme.  Then  in  a  wonderful  way  — 
which  I  can  never  explain  to  myself  —  he  will  find  that, 
by  the  time  he  has  read  all  his  books  of  reference,  his  own 
thoughts  have  begun  to  crystallize,  and  perhaps  all  at 
once,  almost  with  the  rapidity  of  an  electric  discharge, 
the  whole  plan  will  open  up  to  him,  and  he  will  see  his 
way  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his  discourse.  Let 
him  take  a  note  of  that  plan,  and  then  leave  it  to  simmer 
for  a  season." 

Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  in  his  Autocrat  of  the  Break- 
fast Table,  gives  his  experience  thus  :  "  Physiologists  and 
metaphysicians  have  had  their  attention  turned  of  late  to 
the  automatic  and  involuntary  actions  of  the  mind.  Put 
an  idea  into  your  intelligence  and  leave  it  there  an  hour, 
a  day,  a  year,  without  ever  having  occasion  to  refer  to  it. 
When,  at  last,  you  return  to  it  you  do  not  find  it  as  it  was 
when  acquired.  It  has  domiciliated  itself,  so  to  speak,  — 
become  at  home,  —  entered  into  relations  with  your  other 
thoughts,  and  integrated  itself  with  the  whole  fabric  of 
the  mind." 

Amos  R.  Wells,  in  Sunday  School  Success,  bears  a  like 
testimony :  "  These  verses  should  be  running  through  our 
heads  as  we  run  on  all  our  six-day  tasks,  and  should  sing 
themselves  to  all  our  labor  tunes.  But  chiefly,  it  is  only 
in  this  way  that  we  can  accumulate  hints,  and  grow  into 
the  truths  of  the  lesson  by  experience.  With  the  lesson 
theme  for  a  nucleus,  it  is  astounding  to  see  what  a  wealth 
of  illustration,  of  wise  and  helpful  comment,  each  day's 
living  thrusts  upon  us.  Every  event  is  a  picture  of  some 
truth  which  needs  only  a  sensitive   plate  to  be  photo- 


PREPxVRING   THE   LESSON  87 

graphed  forever.  That  sensitive  plate  is  a  mind  which 
is  studying  that  particular  truth." 

I  always  have  some  of  these  living  magnet-truths  in  my 
mind,  and  they  are  continually  gathering  around  them- 
selves something  from  every  source.  They  make  one's 
mind  not  like  the  Nile  which  flows  two  thousand  miles 
without  a  tributary,  but  like  the  Amazon  which  drains  a 
continent  for  its  waters.  Every  book  I  read,  on  what- 
ever subject,  every  experience,  all  intercourse  with  others, 
travel,  picture  galleries,  factories,  fields  and  forests  and 
cities,  —  everything  contributes  something  to  the  subjects 
in  mind.  P"'or  this  reason  I  hate  to  read  a  book  that  I  do 
not  own,  for  I  want  to  mark  its  margins,  and  note  special 
pages  on  the  fly-leaf  for  easy  reference  and  review.^ 

IX.  Another  method  for  making  the  most  of  a  limited 
time  and  opportunity  is  to  make  your  class  co-laborers, 
working  partners,  with  you.  Enlist  their  services.  Give 
them  something  to  look  up,  or  to  think  upon.     Show  them 

1  "  Some  time  ago  I  heard  the  following  definition  of  a  true  scholar. 
A  scholar,  it  was  said,  is  a  man  who  knows  something  of  everything  and 
everything  of  something.  By  all  means  let  our  ministers  know  some  little 
about  everything.  A  quaint  divine  some  years  ago  was  bidding  good-by 
to  one  of  his  students  whose  stock  of  information  on  some  subjects  was 
very  meagre,  and  he  said :  '  Now,  young  man,  take  care  you  keep  the 
door  of  your  empty  rooms  carefully  locked.'  Oh,  those  empty  rooms  ! 
When  iron  is  magnetized  it  attracts  other  fragments  of  iron.  So,  if  there 
is  any  one  subject  on  ivJiich  the  mind  is  always  brooding^  the  mind  becomes, 
as  it  were,  magnetic  on  that  subject.  All  kinds  of  facts,  truths  from  every 
field,  jump  to  it  and  stick  to  it.  This  is  the  secret  of  success  in  every 
department  of  learning,  and  emphatically  is  it  true  of  the  Christian 
minister.  Every  preacher  to  be  successful  must  have  his  mind  magnetized 
by  Gospel  truth,  and  then  whatever  he  reads  will  be  attracted  to  some 
Scripture  text  or  other  to  illustrate  or  explain  it.  There  can  be  no  success 
in  any  other  way."  -I.  T.  Marshall. 


88  THE   FRONT   LINE 

where  they  can  find  a  good  example  or  illustration.  Let 
one  look  up  the  geography,  another  draw  a  map,  another 
find  the  best  verse,  another  can  suggest  what  the  class  can 
do  in  practising  the  lesson. 

For  many  years  I  was  a  member  of  a  Shakespeare  class 
in  my  parish  (I  am  still  an  honorary  member).  We  were 
busy  men  and  women,  ministers,  lawyers,  judges,  doctors, 
teachers,  business  men,  and  busy  women.  We  met  to 
study,  but  had  scant  time  for  special  preparation.  Each 
one  was  appointed  to  do  something  to  bring  to  the  class, 
look  up  the  history  of  the  play,  its  sources,  the  historical 
facts  upon  which  it  was  founded,  the  characteristics  of 
the  persons,  etc.,  so  that  while  each  of  us  could  do  but 
little,  there  was  some  one  with  fresh  information  on  every 
point,  and  I  learned  more  literature  in  that  club  than  in 
my  whole  college  course. 

X.  Lastly,  a  Teachers'  Meeting  is  a  great  saving  of  time. 
There  is  something  in  the  contact  of  soul  with  soul  that 
no  reading  of  books  can  give.  It  is  life  that  kindles  life. 
There  are  people  who  never  suggest  anything,  who  are 
like  a  wet  blanket,  and  make  you  feel  dull,  and  wonder 
whether  you  are  not  losing  your  intellect.  Another  man 
will  wake  you  up,  kindle  new  thoughts,  suggest  bright 
sayings  till  you  are  surprised  at  your  own  brightness  and 
fertility  of  thought.  Those  are  the  ones  you  wish  to 
meet  at  the  teachers'  meeting.  There  is  truth,  too,  in 
O.  W.  Holmes's  statement  that  he  often  talked  in  order 
to  crystallize  his  own  thoughts.  Separate  embers  will 
die  out,  but  when  piled  together  they  will  kindle  into 
a  blaze.  An  artist  wishing  to  paint  a  portrait  of  Shake- 
speare had  his  death-mask  photographed  from  twenty 
points   of   view.     We   need    other   minds    to   present    a 


PKEPARING   THE   LESSON  89 

subject  from  all  points  of  view  in  order  to  see  it  as  it 
really  is. 

The  methods  described  above  are  among  the  greatest 
educating  forces  for  busy  men  and  women.  No  one  can 
have  these  great  subjects  living  in  their  minds,  and 
gathering  other  thoughts  to  them,  and  be  compelled  to 
make  them  so  vivid,  so  accurate,  so  practical  that  they 
can  teach  them,  without  himself  becoming  educated. 
The  Sunday  School  is  the  teacher's  postgraduate  course. 

In  the  new  Congressional  Library  at  Washington  this 
motto  is  written  over  one  of  the  alcoves,  — "  To  the 
souls  of  fire,  I,  Pallas  Athense,  give  more  fire,  and  to  those 
who  are  manful  a  might  more  than  man's." 


TEACHER  TRAINING,  "AN  EDUCATION  FOR  THE 
EDUCATOR" 

I.  The  Most  Urgent  Problem  before  the  Sunday  School 
World  of  To-day  is  how  to  obtain  Teachers  trained  for 
their  Work;  which  practically  means,  How  to  train  for 
their  work,  those  in  our  churches  (1)  who  are  teachers 
in  the  Sunday  School,  (2)  those  who  ought  to  be  teachers, 
and  (3)  those  who  are  growing  up  to  become  teachers. 

There  is  no  discord  among  educators  on  this  point.  We 
can  say  of  it  as  Emerson  said,  when  some  one  spoke  in  his 
presence  of  the  ideas  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
as  "  Glittering  generalities."  "  Glittering  generalities  !  " 
said  Emerson,  ''They  are  blazing  ubiquities." 

The  need  of  better-trained  teachers  is  "  a  blazing  ubiq- 
uity." It  is  present  in  every  school,  in  every  college,  in 
every  Sunday  School.  It  is  omnipresent  in  books  on  edu- 
cation, secular  or  religious. 

Professor  Seeley  in  The  Foundations  of  Education:  "It 
is  a  well-established  pedagogical  maxim  that  the  most  im- 
portant element  of  an  educational  system  is  the  qualified 
teacher." 

B.  F.  Jacobs:  "Dr.  Sarah  Hackett  Stevenson  tells  us 
that  the  childhood  of  this  generation  is  crying  out  ^Edu- 
cate my  mother ! '     If  transposed  to  read,   '  Educate  my 

90 


TEACHER  TRAINING  91 

teacher,''  it  will  voice  the  heart  and  life  cry  of  many  chil- 
dren who  do  not  yet  know  of  their  great  need  and  how  to 
ask  for  it." 

Resolution  adopted  by  the  Fourth  World's  Sunday  School 
Convention  held  at  Jerusalem  in  the  spring  of  1904 :  — 

"  While  reaffirming  that  the  first  essential  work  of  the 
Sunday  School  teacher  is  to  bring  the  pupil  to  a  saving 
knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  and  to  strengthen  his  life  in 
him,  this  convention  declares  its  conviction  that  one  of  the 
greatest  needs  of  the  Sunday  School  is  a  higher  efficiency 
on  the  part  of  our  teachers,  and  it  greatly  desires  to  see 
improved  plans  of  teacher-training  more  widely  extended. 
We  heartily  commend  the  plan  of  the  International  Exec- 
utive Committee  in  appointing  a  special  educational  com- 
mittee to  promote  this  work. 

Dr.  Arnold  of  Rugby :  "  It  is  clear  that  in  whatsoever 
it  is  our  duty  to  act,  those  matters  also  it  is  our  duty  to 
study." 

President  Eliot :  "  The  actual  problem  to  be  solved  is 
not  what  to  teach,  but  how  to  teach." 

Shakespeare  :  — 

"  Ignorance  is  the  curse  of  God, 
Knowledge  the  wing  wherewith  we  fly  to  heaven." 

—  2  Henry  IV. 

Professor  Miinsterberg,  in  his  American  Traits  :  "  Just 
as  it  has  been  said  that  war  needs  three  things,  (1)  Money, 
(2)  Money,  (3)  and  again  MONEY,  so  it  can  be  said  with 
much  greater  truth  that  Education  needs  not  forces,  and 
buildings,  not  pedagogy  and  demonstrations,  but  only  Men, 
Men,  and  again  MEN  —  without  forbidding  that  some, 
not  too  many  of  them,  shall  be  women." 

Professors    Burton    and    Mathews    in    Principles    and 


92  THE   FRONT   LINE 

Ideals :  "  If  the  Sunday  School  is  a  real  educational  insti- 
tution, can  it  be  carried  on  by  untrained  teachers  ?  " 

This  is  not  a  new  movement.  Training  classes  for 
Sunday  School  teachers  were  instituted  in  England  as 
early  as  1856,  and  in  the  same  year  Mr.  Frater  "  urged  the 
establishment  of  Sunday  School  colleges  in  all  large  towns 
for  training  senior  scholars  to  become  teachers."  The 
movement  in  this  country  began  at  least  as  early  as  the 
International  Lessons,  and  has  been  earnestly  urged  by 
the  committee  from  the  beginning. 

But  in  the  present  age  there  is  a  greater  emphasis  upon 
it,  a  deeper  feeling  of  its  need,  and  a  vastly  greater  oppor- 
tunity. 

II.  The  Present  Status.  — It  is  quite  impossible  to  deal 
wisely  with  the  present  situation  without  a  fairly  accurate 
knowledge  of  what  that  situation  is. 

One  of  the  most  difficult  things  is  to  discover  just  what 
is  the  real  character  of  the  teaching  in  the  Sunday  School. 
When  I  hear  from  ministers  in  conventions  and  read  the 
characterizations  of  the  Sunday  School  teachers  made  by 
editors  and  learned  college  professors,  which  all  my  obser- 
vation declares  to  be  caricatures,  or  at  best  like  the  huge 
genie  towering  from  the  tiny  box  of  the  fisherman,  I  can- 
not help  inquiring  how  many  of  their  facts  are  derived 
from  imagination  or  childhood's  memories,  and  how  much 
from  actual  knowledge  of  the  present-day  Sunday  Schools. 
In  how  many  classes  have  they,  within  the  last  few  years, 
sat  and  heard  the  teaching? 

Without  doubt  the  severe  indictments  of  Sunday  School 
teaching  are  made  by  contrasting  the  good  average  teach- 
ing with  the  highest  ideals ;  just  as  the  best  saints  confess 
their  sins,  far  more  earnestly  than  bad  men  do  theirs,  be- 


TEACHER   TRAINING  93 

cause  the  saints  have  vastly  higher  ideals.  But  as  Theo- 
dore Parker  once  said  of  these  same  saints  that  if  their 
confessions  were  true,  they  ought  to  go  to  state  prison, 
so  these  contrasts  between  the  actual  teaching  and  the 
loftiest  ideals,  which  the  best  teachers  feel  the  most,  give 
a  wrong  impression  to  the  common  mind. 

It  is  well  known  that  Dr.  A.  J.  Gordon,  late  pastor 
of  the  Clarendon  Street  Baptist  Church  of  Boston,  early 
in  his  ministry  had  a  dream  or  vision  as  real  as  Peter's 
vision  on  the  housetop  in  Joppa.^  He  saw  Christ  in  his 
congregation,  and  looked  as  through  Christ's  eyes  upon 
everything  pertaining  to  his  preaching,  the  services,  and 
the  Church.  That  vision  changed  his  preaching  and  the 
whole  atmosphere  and  work  of  his  Church. 

Now  if  Christ  came  to  our  Sunday  Schools  and  sat  be- 
side the  teacher,  what  would  he  see  ?  He  would  see  the 
evil,  of  course,  as  Stead  saw  the  evil  in  Chicago,  in  his 
book.  If  Christ  came  to  Chicago.  But  he  would  look  at  it, 
not  as  a  policeman  looking  for  crime,  but  as  a  good  physi- 
cian looks  at  disease,  as  something  to  be  lovingly  cured. 
Under  such  a  look  as  Christ  gave  to  Peter,  the  unfaithful 
teacher  would  go  out  and  weep  bitterly. 

But  I  am  sure  that  Christ  would  look  at  the  Sunday 
School  far  more  as  Edward  Everett  Hale  represents  him 
in  How  Christ  came  to  Boston,  looking  chiefly  for  the  good. 

He  would  see  I  know  not  how  many  teachers  who  do 
not  know  what  to  teach  nor  how  to  teach.  How  they 
came  to  be  teachers  it  is  hard  to  tell.  They  may  have 
been  the  only  ones  available.  They  may  have  wanted  to 
do  some  good  for  which  they  were  not  fitted  by  nature  or 
by  grace.  They  may  have  had  a  dim  idea  of  duty,  with- 
^  See  Hoio  Christ  came  to  Church,  Baptist  Publication  Society. 


94  THE   FRONT   LINE 

out  any  real  will  to  do  their  best.  I  trust  there  are  not 
many.  We  can  only  say  of  them  the  couplet  some  one 
has  written  in  answer  to  Whittier's  lines  — 

"  Of  all  sad  words  of  tongue  and  pen, 
The  sadd'st  are  these,  '  it  might  have  been,'  '* 

suggesting  that 

"  A  sadder  thing  we  sometimes  see, 
It  is,  but  it  ought  not  to  be !  " 

And  yet  in  my  own  heart  I  cannot  but  feel  that  even  for 
these  Whittier's  following  lines  are  not  only  better  poetry, 
but  deeper  truth :  — 

"  Ah,  well !  for  us  some  sweet  hope  lies 
Deeply  buried  from  human  eyes, 
And  in  the  hereafter  angels  may 
Roll  the  stone  from  its  grave  away." 

Again  he  would  see  a  large  number  of  the  best  and 
most  intelligent  people  in  the  community,  educated  men, 
teachers  in  the  day  schools,  saints  who  have  lived  on  the 
Bible,  skilled  business  men,  mothers  who  have  trained 
their  own  children  well,  and  thus  learned  to  train  the 
children  of  others,  women  who  give  time  and  strength 
and  brains  to  teaching,  the  leaders  of  thought  and  influ- 
ence. There  is  a  large  amount  of  truth  in  the  words  of 
B.  F.  Jacobs,  than  whom  few  knew  more  about  Sunday 
School  teaching,  that  "  God  had  skimmed  the  cream  of 
the  Church  and  put  it  into  the  Sunday  School."  I  would 
go  farther,  and  say  that  by  means  of  the  Sunday  School 
God  was  transforming  the  skim-milk  of  the  Church  into 
cream. 

Then  Christ  would  see  the  great  body  of  Sunday  School 
teachers,  men  and  women  of  medium  intelligence  and  abil- 


TEACHER   TRAINING  95 

ity,  of  moderate  education  and  opportunity,  of  fair  faith- 
fulness, and  a  general  desire  to  do  their  best  for  their 
scholars.  The  great  majority  of  these  have  had  compara- 
tively little  training  in  how  to  teach,  and  incomplete  train- 
ing in  what  to  teach.  But  most  of  them  are  not  entirely 
untrained  for  their  work.  Technical  training  is  only  a 
part  of  teacher  training,  as  we  shall  see.  And  it  is  impos- 
sible for  the  Sunday  School  work  to  be  done  without  these 
teachers,  and  most  of  them  do  good  work,  often  very  good 
work,  though  not  the  best  possible. 

The  most  hopeful  element  in  the  situation  is  the  large 
and  rapidly  growing  interest  in  the  training  of  teachers, 
and  the  increasing  opportunities  for  that  training.  The 
better  the  teachers,  the  more  they  feel  the  need  of  train- 
ing. The  same  spirit  is  abroad  to-day  which  a  late  ad- 
dress describes  as  inspiring  our  forefathers.  "  Six  years 
after  the  founding  of  Boston,  our  forefathers,  only  a  few 
thousand  in  number,  scattered  thinly  from  Ipswich  to 
Cohasset  and  Watertown  to  Boston,  while  still  in  danger 
of  starvation  and,  as  one  chronicler  puts  it,  '  of  rattle- 
snakes by  day  and  savages  by  night,'  founded  Harvard 
College  '  Christo  et  Ecclesiae.'  They  determined  that 
the  culture  of  the  mind  should  begin  with  the  culture  of 
the  soul." 

And  still  more  hopeful  is  the  fact  that  the  training  of 
teachers  means  the  training  of  the  whole  Church.  Parents 
need  the  training  as  really  as  teachers,  and  the  means  by 
which  teachers  are  trained  are  largely  open  to  the  whole 
community. 

III.  The  Kind  of  Training  depends  on  the  Purpose  and 
Aim  of  the  Teaching  in  the  Sunday  School.  —  This  is  so 
obvious   a  truth    that  it  needs  but  to  be   stated   to   be 


96  THE   FRONT   LINE 

accepted  as  true.  And  yet  not  a  little  of  the  criticisms 
of  the  teaching  force,  and  not  a  few  of  the  discussions  of 
teacher  training  ignore  this  obvious  truth,  or  lay  wrong 
emphasis  upon  the  different  elements  of  the  training. 

Bishop  Vincent  is  right  in  saying,  "As  nearly  every- 
thing in  the  School  depends  upon  the  teacher,  so  nearly 
everything  in  the  teacher  depends  upon  his  aims." 

IV.  The  Next  Step  therefore  is  for  the  Teacher  to  have 
Clearly  and  Definitely  in  Mind  what  he  means  to  accomplish 
by  his  Teaching.  What  is  the  supreme  end  of  Sunday  School 
teaching,  and  what  subordinate  aims  minister  to  it,  or  have 
a  value  in  themselves  ?  I  will  name  them  in  the  order  of 
their  supremacy,  of  their  dependence  one  on  the  other. 

(1)  The  supreme  and  ultimate  aim  of  Sunday  School 
teaching  is  perfect  Christian  character  and  the  life  which  is 
its  natural  expression.  It  is  the  attaining  "unto  a  full- 
grown  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness 
of  Christ."  1  The  forming  of  the  best  character  is  now 
regarded  by  educators  as  the  highest  aim  of  all  educations. 
Let  me  put  it  before  you  from  four  points  of  view  stated 
by  four  men  of  both  experience  and  power  :  — 

"In  the  contrast  so  often  made  to-day  between  the 
day  school  and  the  Sunday  School,  remember  this,"  says 
Professor  Merriam,  "that  what  is  primary  in  the  day 
school  is  secondary  in  the  Sunday  School,  and  what  is  fun- 
damental in  the  one  place  is  only  incidental  in  the  other  ; 
that  is,  your  main  purpose  is  moral  and  spiritual.  The 
main  purpose  of  the  day  school  is  intellectual.  What  the 
day  school  does  indirectly  in  ethical  influence  is  your 
direct  object  —  to  form  the  spiritual  character  of  that 
group  of  young  people." 

1  Eph.  4  :  13. 


TEACHER    TRAINING  97 

"  It  is  an  admirable  thing,"  said  President  Roosevelt, 
the  other  day,  in  addressing  a  school,  "  a  most  necessary 
thing,  to  have  a  sound  body.  It  is  an  even  better  thing 
to  have  a  sound  mind.  But  infinitely  better  than  either 
is  it  to  have  that,  for  the  lack  of  which  neither  sound 
mind  nor  a  sound  body  can  atone  —  character.  Character 
is  in  the  long  run  the  decisive  factor  in  the  life  of 
individuals  and  of  nations  alike.  Sometimes,  in  rightly 
putting  the  stress  that  we  do  upon  intelligence,  we  for- 
get the  fact  that  there  is  something  that  counts  more. 
It  is  a  good  thing  to  be  clever,  to  be  able  and  smart ;  but 
it  is  a  better  thing  to  have  the  qualities  that  find  their 
expression  in  the  Decalogue  and  the  Golden  Rule." 

Professor  Sanders's :  "  The  aim  of  all  Sabbath  School 
work  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the  building  up  of  character. 
This  gives  a  wider  and  truer  range  to  it  than  that 
which  is  given  by  the  usual  definition.  It  includes  the 
forming  of  the  being,  the  reaching  of  the  mind  in  all 
its  departments,  and  treats  it  as  a  single  entity." 

In  the  words  of  the  lamented  Professor  Henry  Drum- 
mond  :  "  The  image  of  Christ  that  is  forming  within  us  — 
that  is  life's  one  charge.  Let  every  project  stand  aside 
for  that.  '  Till  Christ  be  formed,'  no  man's  work  is 
finished,  no  religion  crowned,  no  life  has  fulfilled  its 
end.  Is  the  infinite  task  begun  ?  When,  how,  are  we 
to  be  different?  Time  cannot  change  men.  Death 
cannot  change  men.  Christ  can.  Wherefore  '  put  on 
Christ.'  " 

(2)  The  supreme  choice  of  righteousness^  of  Grod  as  our 
Father^  and  of  Christ  as  Saviour  and  as  the  embodiment  of 
all  that  is  good,  that  is,  a  supreme  love  of  God,  of  Christ, 
and  of  duty,  is  an  essential  condition  of  obtaining  the 


98  THE   FRONT   LINE 

highest  character.  That  is  conversion,  the  new  birth, 
the  beginning  of  a  new  life  which  is  to  grow  unto  perfec- 
tion, a  continued  and  eternal  living  of  the  heavenly  life. 

Education  cannot  take  the  place  of  this  new  life. 
"  Education  alone,"  says  Herbert  Spencer,  in  his  Social 
Statics^  "  never  makes  a  man  better.  Creeds  pasted  on 
the  memory,  good  principles  learned  by  rote,  lessons  in 
right  and  wrong,  will  not  eradicate  vicious  propensities. 
.  .  .  All  history,  both  of  the  race  and  the  individual, 
goes  to  prove  that  in  a  majority  of  cases  precepts  do  not 
act  at  all.  .  .  .  But  if  you  make  virtue  loved  and  vice 
loathed,  if  you  arouse  a  noble  desire,  if  you  bring  into 
life  a  previously  dormant  sentiment,  ...  if,  in  short, 
you  produce  a  state  of  mind  to  which  proper  behavior 
is  natural,  spontaneous,  instinctive,  you  do  some  good." 
This  expresses  the  need  of  religion  behind  education, 
the  value  of  revivals,  of  decision  days,  of  believing  on 
Christ. 

After  that,  education  and  culture  have  almost  unlimited 
power.  Inoculate  the  wild  brier  with  the  rose,  and  all 
the  culture  which  would  only  make  the  wild  brier  a  more 
luxuriant  brier,  but  never  a  rose,  will  make  it  bring  forth 
more  beautiful  roses  more  abundantly.  ''  Golden  conduct 
does  not  proceed  from  leaden  instincts." 

In  a  late  story  we  read:  " '  You  can  educate  men,  mon- 
keys, and  pigs,'  said  the  young  professor  of  English 
Literature,  '  but  when  you  have  done,  you  still  have  men, 
monkeys,  and  pigs.  College  cannot  change  the  nature  of 
the  trainee,  but  it  does  rub  off  one  husk,  and  show  one 
central  kernel.  If  there  be  a  man  there,  college  training 
but  brings  out  the  man.' " 

A  teacher   said,   ''  I  would   rather,   a   thousand   times 


TEACHER    TRAINING  99 

rather,  any  pupil  of  mine  should  fail  in  every  examination 
than  to  fail  once  in  honor  or  chivalry." 

It  is  this  supreme  motive  that  transforms  all  that  is 
secular  into  the  sacred  for  them  that  have  it. 

(3)  The  training  of  the  will  is  therefore  one  of  the 
essential  elements  of  education.  The  child  is  to  be  trained, 
guided,  to  make  right  choices,  in  all  the  hourly  matters 
which  present  themselves  for  a  decision  between  right 
and  wrong,  between  good  and  evil. 

It  is  by  these  acts  of  choosing  that  character  is  formed 
and  confirmed.  According  to  Dr.  Forbush  in  The  Boy 
Problem.,  "  the  public  school  fails  in  will-training  because 
it  gives  the  will  no  exercise.  '  Our  schools,'  says  William 
I.  Crane,  ^  permit  us  to  think  what  is  good,  but  not  to  do 
what  is  good.' " 

I  cannot  do  better  than  to  state  the  case  in  the  words 
of  Professor  R.  Sanderson,  superintendent  of  the  city 
schools  of  Burlington,  Iowa,  in  a  remarkably  clear  and 
able  address  before  the  city  Sunday  School  Union  :  — 

'^  This  is  the  preordained  path  by  which  the  individual 
attains  to  Christian  character,  determined  by  the  natural 
workings  of  the  human  mind,  —  thinking,  feeling,  willing, 
—  and  in  this  order.  It  is  impossible  for  a  man  to  feel 
unless  there  is  an  object  presented ;  it  is  impossible  to  will 
unless  the  intellect  has  taken  cognizance  of  a  fact,  and 
a  sufficient  amount  of  feeling  is  aroused  in  the  contem- 
plation of  it.  Before  an  intelligent  act  becomes  possible, 
there  must  be  knowledge,  feeling,  and  willing.  It  is  not 
necessary  that  the  knowledge  be  either  exhaustive  or  com- 
plete ;  still  there  must  be  enough  to  make  the  affections 
prompt  the  will  to  choose  actively  the  '  doing '  or  '  not 
doing.'  ... 


100  THE   FRONT    LINE 

"  Theoretically,  that  man  has  a  perfect  character  whose 
intellectual  perceptions  arouse  corresponding  affections 
and  terminate  in  appropriate  willing  and  acting.  This 
places  character  not  in  intelligence,  not  in  large-hearted- 
ness,  not  alone  in  acting,  but  in  a  happy  harmony  and 
equipoise  of  all  these.  And  the  difference  between  men 
chiefly  consists  in  the  infinitely  various  ways  in  which  these 
three  departments  of  our  nature  act,  interact,  and  react.  .  .  . 

*'  That  man  alone  has  a  right  character  whose  right 
thinking  terminates  in  right  acting,  whose  every  thought 
has  its  appropriate  emotion  and  willing." 

Note  that  while  in  the  Sunday  School  there  is  but 
moderate  opportunity  for  giving  the  will  exercise,  as  in 
attention,  faithfulness,  reverence,  kindliness,  obedience, 
yet  the  Sunday  School  teaching  is  geared  on  to  the  daily 
life  at  home,  and  the  teaching  is  scarcely  done  before  the 
child  has  abundant  exercise  for  his  will  in  putting  the 
teaching  into  practice. 

Note  that  through  the  minor  choices  the  child  is  trained 
to  make  the  supreme  choice  of  his  life. 

Note  that  the  supreme  choice  is  often  made  in  view  of 
some  small  act  close  at  hand  in  everyday  experience,  when 
the  chooser  does  not  at  all  realize  the  full  measure  of  its 
content.  He  makes  a  choice  of  a  right  instead  of  a  wrong 
act,  and  it  is  the  beginning  of  a  new  life  of  serving  and 
obeying  Christ,  the  sum  of  all  righteousness.  Hence  it 
so  often  happens  that  people  brought  up  under  Christian 
influences  are  not  conscious  of  any  definite  time  when 
they  became  Christians,  while  those  before  whom  came 
the  clearly  defined  choice  of  Christ  or  the  world  know 
definitely  when  they  made  their  life  decision. 

Note  again,  that  while  every  day  is  a  *'  decision  day," 


TEACHER    TRAINING  101 

yet  it  is  of  great  value  to  a  young  person  to  come  face  to 
face  with  some  question  when  he  must  decide  openly  and 
positively  where  he  will  stand,  through  which  decision  he 
shall  become  conscious  of  his  real  position,  and  confirmed 
in  it.  Professor  E.  W.  Scripture  of  Yale,  in  his  book 
of  psychological  experiments,  Thmklng^  Feeling^  Doing^ 
proves  that  in  order  to  realize  feelings,  as  of  hot  and  cold, 
there  needs  to  be  a  sudden  change.  In  holding  a  spoon 
on  the  flame  of  a  lamp,  "  when  the  heat  was  gradually 
increased  it  was  scarcely  noticed,  but  when  suddenly  in- 
creased it  was  clear  at  once."  Although  a  frog  jumps 
readily  when  put  in  warm  water,  yet  a  frog  can  be  boiled 
without  a  movement  if  the  water  is  heated  slowly  enough. 
"  From  psychological  writers  we  have  heard  it  repeated 
ad  nauseam  that  there  is  no  consciousness  without  change. 
These  facts  illustrate  the  necessity  of  sudden  impulses,  of 
great  revivals,  reformations,  political  excitements,  unex- 
pected results,  to  awaken  a  community  to  its  needs  or  its 
dangers."  Decision  days  are  coming  into  use  for  the  same 
reason. 

(4)  The  will  is  trained  hy  presenting  the  motives  which 
lead  to  action.     The  will  always  acts  in  view  of  motives. 

"The  driving  power  which  brings  to  the  point  of  de- 
cision may  be  vivid  emotion,  or  keen  sorrow,  or  painful 
repentance,  or  the  impulse  of  a  high  resolve,  or  the  woo- 
ing of  a  great  love,  or  a  kindled  passion  after  good  and 
purity.  But  all  the  roads  converge  to  this  point  of  solemn 
reflection,  when  a  man  considers  his  life  in  the  light  of 
God's  presence."  ^ 

The  work  of  the  Sunday  School  is  like  the  work  of  the 
Church,  as  expressed  by  Professor  Peabody  of  Harvard. 
1  Rev.  Hugh  Black  of  Edinboro. 


102  THE   FRONT   LINE 

''  It  is  not  one  more  machine  of  social  service  ;  it  is  a 
source  of  power  for  social  service.  That  is  the  place  of 
a  true  Christian  Church.  It  is  a  power-house."  Mark 
Twain  hit  it  when  he  said,  "The  art  of  preaching  is  to 
influence  you."  The  work  of  the  teacher  is  to  so  present 
motives  that  his  scholars  will  make  the  right  choice  and 
form  the  best  characters. 

Hawthorne,  in  one  of  his  stories,  describes  a  character 
which  was  paralyzed  in  the  realm  of  motives.  The  man 
would  look  out  of  his  window  at  the  world,  but  felt  him- 
self as  utterly  detached  from  it  as  a  door  detached  from 
its  hinges,  and  as  useless.  The  sign  in  the  window,  "To 
let,"  describes  exactly  the  state  of  the  man's  motives ;  and 
the  words  Qui  bono  ?  —  "  What  is  the  use  ?  "  were  fastened 
upon  every  rising  intention.  The  teacher  is  to  give  life 
and  action  to  the  realm  of  motives. 

"Inasmuch,"  says  Commissioner  W.  T.  Harris,  "as  the 
child  is  self-active,  and  grows  only  through  the  exercise 
of  self-activity,  education  consists  entirely  in  leading  the 
child  to  develop  this  power  of  doing.  Any  help  that  does 
not  help  the  pupil  to  help  himself  is  excessive." 

(5)  "  The  prescribed  way  —  prescribed  by  nature  —  of 
reaching  the  will  is,  as  related  above,  by  presenting  to  the 
intellect  facts  which  shall  arouse  the  emotional  nature." 
These  facts,  for  the  teacher  of  the  Sunday  School,  are 
chiefly  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  illustrated  in  Bible 
history,  *biography,  and  literature,  and  experienced  by 
the  teacher  himself.  The  Bible  is  the  teacher's  text-book. 
No  other  book  has  had  or  can  have  the  power  which  this 
Book  has,  presenting  as  it  does  the  greatest  truths  revealed 
by  God  and  adapted  to  man,  meeting  every  need,  quench- 
ing every  thirst  ;  the  bread  of  life  to  the  hungry ;  forgive- 


TEACHER    TRAINING  103 

ness  for  the  sinful ;  hope,  life,  immortality  for  all.  It  is 
the  great,  abiding,  inspired  truths  of  redemption,  em- 
bodied in  Jesus  Christ,  made  mighty  by  His  atoning  love, 
and  illuminated  and  enforced  by  the  presence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  that  can  present  the  motives  which  lead  to  right 
choices  and  thence  to  Cliristian  character.  "  The  Church 
should  never  forget  the  saying  of  Coleridge,  that  no  reli- 
gious emotion  is  profitable  except  such  as  is  produced  by 
the  view  of  some  truth."  But  most  of  all  by  a  clear  vision 
of  Him  who  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us,  full  of 
grace  and  truth. 

(6)  In  addition  to  the  character  forming  truths^  there  is 
very  much  to  be  taught  from  the  Bible,  that  belongs  to  the 
divine  setting  of  these  truths,  and  therefore  of  great  im- 
portance to  the  right  understanding  of  them,  and  to  their 
impression  on  the  minds  of  our  scholars.  The  geography, 
the  history,  the  forms  of  literature,  the  connection  with 
secular  history,  the  location  of  the  Prophets  and  Epistles 
in  their  historical  environment,  and  all  that  is  referred  to 
in  the  chapters  on  Methods  of  Bible  Study  for  the  Sun- 
day School  belong  under  this  category. 

V.  Having  accepted  the  necessity  for  trained  teachers, 
observed  the  present  teaching  force,  realized  that  the  kind 
of  training  depends  on  the  aim  of  Sunday  School  instruc- 
tion, and  having  studied  that  aim  in  its  various  aspects, 
we  are  now  prepared  to  consider  — 

What  are  the  kinds  of  training  which  prepare  the  Sunday 
School  teacher  for  his  work,  and  what  is  the  proper  empha- 
sis to  be  laid  upon  each  of  them  ? 

First.  Character  training  stands  far  above  all  others, 
for  character  is  the  greatest  human  agency  known  for 
inspiring  character   in  others,  and   tliat   is   the  supreme 


104  THE   FRONT   LINE 

object  of  Sunday  School  instruction.  Character  produces 
character  ;  love  awakens  love  ;  life  is  the  only  known 
source  of  life ;  religious  life  kindles  religious  life  in 
others  ;  and  there  is  nothing  can  take  its  place  for  this 
end:  Bible  truth  lived,  Bible  truth  expressed  in  human 
character,  Bible  truth  illustrated  and  explained  in  daily 
life,  in  "living  epistles  known  and  read  of  all."  Souls 
grow  by  contact  with  other  souls.  The  larger  and  fuller 
the  spirit  with  whom  we  come  into  touch,  and  the  more  the 
points  of  contact,  the  more  free  and  strong  is  our  growth. 
Plautus  says  that  "an  eye  witness  is  worth  more  than 
ten  thousand  ear  witnesses." 

Hon.  S.  B.  Capen  says,  "  Fellow-teachers,  let  us  never 
forget  in  all  our  work  that  our  words  will  never  go  any 
farther  than  our  own  lives  will  carry  them.  Back  of  the 
teacher  and  the  teaching  is  the  man  himself,  and  not  what 
we  say  but  what  we  are  will  determine  the  force  of  our 
message.  Emerson's  words  are  forever  true,  '  What  you 
are  speaks  so  loud  I  cannot  hear  what  you  say.'  " 

I  know  of  no  discordant  note  among  educators  in  the 
testimony  that  "  the  greatest  thing  a  teacher  ever  brings 
to  a  child  is  not  the  subject-matter,  but  the  uplift  which 
comes  from  heart  contact  with  a  great  personality."  ^ 

Professor  Luther  H.  Gulick  of  New  York,  after  a  per- 
sonal inquiry  among  leading  men  of  the  city  as  to  the 
source  from  which  they  had  gained  most  from  their  Sun- 
day School  experience,  found  that  the  scheme  of  lessons, 
the  age  or  sex  of  teachers,  had  small  influence  compared 
with  the  character  of  the  teachers. ^ 

1  An  Ideal  ScJiool,  Chap.  XII. 

2  Proceedings  of  the  second  annual  meeting  of  the  Religious  Education 
Association, 


TEACHER    TRAINING  105 

In  the  Forum  for  March,  1896,  President  Charles  F. 
Thwing  records  the  results  of  "  a  very  interesting  study 
of  fifty  representative  men  to  questions  involving  the  best 
thing  college  does  for  a  man.  The  entire  drift  of  the  testi- 
mony was  that  the  most  these  men  got  from  the  college 
was  inspiration  from  life  contact  with  great  leaders.  The 
subject-matter  of  the  college  received  a  very  small  per- 
centage of  credit." 

Dr.  Parkhurst  remarks,  "  While  books  can  teach,  per- 
sonality only  can  educate." 

"The  most  influential  thing  in  the  world,"  says  Pro- 
fessor Whitney,  "  is,  we  suppose,  what  men  see  in  other 
people's  lives." 

"  No  nobler  feeling,"  says  Carlyle,  "  than  admiration 
for  one  higher  than  himself  dwells  in  the  breast  of  man. 
It  is  to  this  hour,  and  at  all  hours,  the  vivifying  influence 
in  man's  life." 

President  Hadley,  of  Yale,  says  in  a  late  article,  "  All 
the  moral  precepts  which  are  taught,  even  by  those  great 
head  masters  who  have  the  greatest  reputation  as  moral 
teachers,  are  of  little  consequence  as  compared  with  the 
personality  of  those  teachers  themselves." 

The  ancient  Persian  monarchs  acted  on  this  principle 
when,  according  to  Xenophon's  Memorabilia,  they  selected 
for  the  training  of  their  princes  the  four  best  men  in  their 
kingdom, — the  wisest  man,  the  most  Just  man,  the  most 
temperate  man,  and  the  bravest  man,  —  men  who  could 
teach  the  virtues  well  because  they  had  experienced  them, 
men  who  could  illustrate  them  by  living  examples. 

In  his  Mosses  from  an  Old  Manse  Hawthorne  tells  a 
weird  story  of  a  chemist  named  Rappacini,  who  was  in- 
vestigating the  nature  of  poisons,  and  had  a  charming 


106  THE   niONT   LINE 

garden  in  which  every  plant  and  flower  was  poisonous. 
His  beautiful  daughter  lived  in  this  poison  atmosphere 
till  her  whole  nature  became  poisonous,  so  that  at  length 
flowers  withered  at  her  touch,  insects  flitting  before  her 
fell  dead  in  her  breath,  and  even  spiders  and  reptiles  per- 
ished, scorched  and  convulsed  by  her  presence.  And  a 
young  student,  attracted  by  her  beauty  to  walk  in  that 
Eden  of  poisons,  was  at  length  astonished  and  enraged  to 
And  himself,  even  by  this  partial  abode  there,  so  impreg- 
nated with  the  poison  that  the  flies  and  spiders  of  his 
room  withered  in  death  when  he  breathed  upon  them,  and 
this  poison  fragrance  surrounded  him  everywhere  like  an 
atmosphere. 

The  reverse  of  this  is  still  more  true.  Ingersoll  is  re- 
ported to  have  said  that  if  he  had  been  God,  he  would 
have  made  health  catching  instead  of  disease.  But  God 
has  made  moral  good  more  catching  than  moral  evil. 
Life  has  vastly  more  propagating  power  than  death.  We 
cannot  communicate  to  others  what  we  do  not  possess 
ourselves.  The  power  of  the  preacher  lies  in  the  man 
behind  the  sermon.  The  power  of  the  teaching  lies  in  the 
teacher  behind  the  teaching,  so  that  the  scholar  can  find  — 

"  His  being  working  in  my  own, 
The  footsteps  of  his  life  in  mine." 

Here,  then,  is  the  supreme  sphere  of  teacher  training. 
Let  us  note  several  things  in  reference  to  it. 

(1)  This  kind  of  teacher  training  is  too  often  left  out 
of  the  account  or  taken  for  granted,  with  the  result  of 
discouragement  to  good  teachers,  of  a  wrong  emphasis  on 
the  work  of  training,  and  of  a  wrong  principle  of  selec- 
tion. The  greatest  danger  in  that  excellent  and  neces- 
sary training  so  much  insisted  upon  is  well  expressed  by 


TEACHER   TRAINING  107 

Spurgeon's  illustration  of  a  "  servant  wlio  was  desired  by 
his  master  to  carry  a  present  of  fish  to  a  friend  and  to  do 
it  as  quickly  as  possible.  In  all  haste  the  man  seized  a 
basket  and  set  out;  but  when  he  reached  his  journey's 
end  he  became  a  laughing-stock,  for  he  had  forgotten  the 
fish ;  his  basket  was  empty.  Teacher  !  Preacher  !  let  not 
the  like  happen  to  thee."  We  cannot  carry  the  fish  with- 
out the  basket,  but  the  basket  is  of  no  use  if  it  is  empty. 

(2)  It  is  a  teacher  training  that  all  can  enjoy. 

(3)  It  is  gained  through  faithfulness  in  ordinary  daily 
life,  in  business,  in  the  home ;  amid  cares  and  burdens 
and  sorrows,  personal  trials  and  victories;  through  pri- 
vate communion  with  God  and  daily  study  of  His  Word. 

(4)  It  is  the  preparation  and  training  which  uplifts 
the  Church  as  well  as  the  Sunday  School. 

(5)  It  furnishes  a  new  inspiration  for  better  living,  for 
leaving  off  doubtful  habits,  for  more  earnest  efforts  for 
the  better  life,  for  larger  victories  over  evil,  because  all 
these  things  are  to  have  an  effect  upon  the  scholars  under 
our  care. 

(6)  And  lastly  this  kind  of  training  naturally  leads  to 
all  other  kinds  of  training  which  will  make  this  kind  most 
effective.  A  well-balanced  character  will  never  expect 
results  without  means,  nor  the  best  results  without  the 
best  means  at  hand.  The  Holy  Spirit  continually  uses 
means.  The  twelve  fishermen  Apostles  were  mighty 
when  filled  with  the  Spirit,  but  they  had  first  been  two 
or  three  years  in  the  school  of  Christ. 

"When  one  claimed  that  education  was  unnecessary 
because  the  Holy  Spirit  would  guide  into  all  truth,  and 
added, '  The  Lord  can  do  without  my  knowledge,'  a  fitting 
rebuke  was  administered  in  the  reply,  '  Yes,  but  the  Lord 


108  THE   FRONT   LINE 

can  do  still  better  without  your  ignorance.'  '  Pour  your 
teaching  out  of  a  full  reservoir,  not  out  of  a  pint  cup.' " 

Second.  The  teacher  is  to  he  trained  in  hnoivledge  of  the 
Bible,  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  material  he  is  to  teach. 
He  needs  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  it  in  every  respect. 
He  must  know  Christ,  in  order  to  teach  Him,  and  under- 
stand the  very  soul  of  His  teachings  in  order  to  teach  these. 

The  queen  bee  is  produced  from  a  common  worker  by 
being  placed  in  a  larger  cell  and  fed  with  richer  and  more 
abundant  food.  The  soul  of  the  teacher  expands,  grows 
more  beautiful,  more  powerful  for  good  by  more  abundant 
feeding  on  the  Bread  of  Life. 

Third.  The  teacher  needs  a  training  in  the  art  of  teach- 
ing in  the  best  methods  of  presenting,  enforcing,  illustrat- 
ing, and  applying  the  Bible  truths.  For  teaching  is  an 
art  to  be  learned.  It  has  its  laws  and  principles,  and  new 
light  is  being  thrown  upon  the  subject  every  day. 

Some  people  are  born  with  a  genius  for  teaching ;  all 
the  more  will  they  gain  from  training,  and  all  the  more 
earnestly  will  they  seek  the  training.  But  most  have 
merely  possibilities  and  need  training  in  the  art  of  teach- 
ing in  order  to  make  the  possibilities  realities.  The  How 
to  teach  is  secondary  in  importance  only  to  the  What  to 
teach  in  the  work  of  religious  instruction.  "Education 
is  not  less  a  science,  nor  is  teaching  less  an  art  because 
the  exclusive  subject  of  instruction  is  moral  and  religious 
truth."  1 

The  most  learned  men  are  often  very  poor  teachers.  I 
frequently  hear  of  men  like  the  following  :  — 

"  One  of  the  best  Bible  scholars  that  the  writer  has  ever 

1  Henry  Dunn,  1837.  See  Mr.  W.  H.  Groser's  A  Hundred  Years' 
Work  for  the  Children,  p.  103. 


TEACHER    TRAINING  109 

been  privileged  to  meet  was  one  of  the  worst  teachers  that 
ever  plagued  a  class." 

And  this  from  A.  H.  McKinney,  Ph.D. :  — 

"  My  friend,  the  professor,  is  a  veritable  encyclopaedia. 
His  fund  of  information  is  seemingly  inexhaustible.  His 
knowledge  of,  and  fluency  in,  several  languages  is  aston- 
ishing. But  he  cannot  teach.  He  descended  as  instruc- 
tor from  college  to  high  school,  to  public  school,  to  night 
school,  but  in  every  position  he  was  a  failure.  There  was 
no  question  concerning  either  the  quantity  or  the  quality  of 
his  book  learning,  but  he  did  not  know  how  to  teach.  This 
was  the  fatal  defect  that  resulted  in  his  professional  death." 

The  How  to  teach  is  so  important  that  I  can  scarcely 
conceive  of  any  teacher's  not  making  it  his  most  earnest 
study.  Not  only  must  there  be  pure  water  in  the  reser- 
voir, but  the  best  possible  distributing  system. 

Fourth.  The  teacher  7ieeds  training  in  the  study  of  the 
child^  in  which  study  such  great  advances  have  been  made 
within  the  past  few  years. 

What  my  friend.  Dean  Alford  A.  Butler,  writes  con- 
cerning the  pastor  is  equally  true  of  the  teacher  :  ^'  The 
pastor  who  knows  books  and  not  men,  who  understands 
inspired  truth  but  not  human  nature,  is  like  a  man  in  the 
desert  throwing  precious  water  at  a  collection  of  bottles 
that  are  securely  sealed.  He  may  enjoy  his  own  activity, 
but  the  bottles  are  as  empty  at  the  end  of  the  performance 
as  they  were  at  the  beginning.  Talking  is  not  teaching, 
and  preaching  is  not  edification,  though  the  torrent  be  as 
large  and  as  loud  as  Niagara."  ^     "  The  deeper  study  of 

1  The  Sunday  School  Outlook.  The  Crypt  Conference.  Address  by 
Alford  A.  Butler,  D.D.,  Dean  of  the  Episcopal  Divinity  School,  Faribault, 
Minn. 


110  THE    FRONT    LINE 

child  nature  holds  in  it  large  promise  of  better  work  for 
the  future."^  Many  a  Sunday  School  teacher  fails  in 
governing,  as  well  as  in  teaching  his  class,  because  he 
does  not  know  his  scholars. 

Jesus  attracted  men  because  He  understood  them,  He 
knew  them  through  and  through,  He  felt  their  difficulties, 
He  sympathized  with  their  struggles.  He  saw  them  as 
worse  than  they  saw  themselves,  yet  He  showed  no  loath- 
ing, no  scorn  ;  He  felt  no  hate,  no  contempt  ;  He  did  not 
despise  them  as  outcasts.  But  He  loved  them.  He  knew 
the  good  in  them,  He  showed  them  that  they  were  not 
hopeless.  For  the  first  time  they  heard  a  teacher  who 
saw  the  possibilities  within  them,  and  treated  them  accord- 
ing to  what  they  were,  and  flung  wide  open  the  door  of 
repentance  and  hope  and  heaven. 

Some  wise  thinker,  whose  name  has  escaped  me,  enforces 
the  duty  of  child  study  in  these  earnest  words  :  "  There 
is  a  sense,  a  real  and  awful  sense,  in  which  you  stand 
between  God  and  the  children,  and  must  communicate 
Him  to  them.  Every  teacher  is  in  the  highest  sense  of 
the  word  a  priest,  for  God  reveals  Himself  through  men 
and  women.  It  is  one  of  the  ways  He  has  chosen,  and 
we,  who  are  all  His  servants,  must  try  and  be  equal  to 
the  responsibility.  And  if  we  stand  between  God  and 
the  children,  our  hope  of  efficiency  lies  in  our  sharing 
alike  the  soul  of  the  Eternal  and  the  spirit  of  the  little 
child.  This  latter  is  more  important  than  we  think,  and 
there  is  no  good  teacher  who  is  not  also  a  child.  I  do 
not  say  we  must  be  childish.  I  say  we  must  be  children 
when  we  are  face  to  face  with  the  little  ones,  for  only  the 
child-heart  can  communicate  with  the  child-heart.  There- 
1  Rev.  A.  F.  Schauffler,  D.D.,  in  Pastoral  Leadership,  p.  64. 


TEACHER   TRAINING  111 

fore,  amid  all  the  pains  that  some  of  you  are  taking  by  the 
study  of  methods  and  systematic  reading  to  fit  yourselves  for 
your  task,  do  not  forget  the  duty  of  a  perpetual  childhood." 

VI.  In  view  of  these  facts  and  principles,  and  in  appli- 
cation of  them  to  the  present  situation,  our  next  inquiry 
is.  Who  should  be  the  teachers  in  the  Sunday  School  ? 

Concerning  Paid  Teachers.  —  There  is  a  tendency  in  some 
quarters  to  advocate  the  employment  of  paid  teachers  in 
the  Sunday  School,  as  being  better  Bible  scholars,  and 
better  trained  in  the  methods  of  teaching ;  while  of  neces- 
sity the  classes  would  be  larger  and  the  teachers  fewer 
than  in  the  ordinary  Sunday  School,  it  being  claimed  that 
it  is  more  effective  to  have  one  large  class  under  a  trained 
teacher  than  several  small  classes  under  the  ordinary 
teacher. 

That  depends. 

In  very  large  schools,  especially  those  that  are  Mission 
Schools,  a  paid  superintendent  is  often  of  great  value.  He 
becomes  the  pastor's  assistant.  He  can  do  a  great  deal  of 
work  for  the  children  during  all  the  week,  and  become  a 
power  in  the  community.  He  needs  to  be  as  well  educated 
as  the  pastor,  but  with  special  emphasis  on  this  kind  of 
work.  Such  paid  assistants  will  doubtless  increase  in 
numbers,  especially  in  cities,  and  they  ought  to.  Smaller 
churjches  will  very  likely  unite  in  employing  such  assist- 
ants. Where  it  is  possible  to  have  a  business  man,  like 
Wanamaker  at  the  Bethany  Sunday  School,  in  Philadelphia, 
or  like  Mr.  Frank  L.  Brown,  a  man  of  wealth  who  gives  his 
whole  time  to  the  Bushwick  Avenue  Methodist  Episcopal 
Sunday  School,  Brooklyn,  then  this  is  the  better  way. 

In  these  large  schools,  the  primary  or  kindergarten 
teacher,  who  requires  a  costly  two-years'  course  of  train- 


112  THE   FRONT   LINE 

ing,  may  well  be  paid,  and  then  give  her  whole  time  to  the 
younger  children. 

Then  there  are  special  adult  classes  who  wish  to  take  up 
subjects  which  demand  expert  scholars ;  these  may  well 
employ  for  shorter  or  longer  courses  such  scholars  as  may 
be  obtained. 

But  beyond  this,  for  the  great  body  of  Sunday  Schools, 
and  for  the  great  majority  of  classes  in  any  Sunday  School, 
the  substitution  of  paid  teachers,  with  large  classes,  instead 
of  the  present  plan  perfected,  would  be  nothing  less  than 
a  calamity  to  the  Churches  and  the  Sunday  Schools.  It 
would  be  like  going  back  to  Plato's  ideal  Republic,  where 
the  children  were  to  be  taken  from  their  parents  and 
placed  under  trained  nurses  and  teachers,  where,  whatever 
else  they  gained,  they  lost  the  mother  love  and  its  heavenly 
power. 

Practically,  this  question  is,  for  most  schools,  of  little 
importance  except  as  an  ideal.  For  there  are  not  enough 
of  the  talented,  completely  trained  teachers  to  go  round. 
And  it  would  be  impossible  for  most  Churches  to  pay 
teachers  in  addition  to  their  other  expenses,  at  least  sufifi- 
ciently  to  attract  real  talent.  It  would  be  much  better 
to  make  a  liberal  provision  for  training  their  own  members 
to  be  good  teachers.  The  Report  of  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Education  on  Sunday  Schools,  1896-1897,  quotes 
the  following :  — 

"  Hireling  teachers  can  scarcely  be  expected  to  possess 
either  the  zeal  or  the  ability  of  those  who  now  engage  in 
the  work  from  motives  of  pure  benevolence.  Gratuitous 
instruction  was  an  astonishifig  improvement  of  the  system.^"* 
Only  in  some  small  degree  is  it  wise,  even  if  possible,  to 
return  to  the  earlier  plan. 


TEACHER   TRAINING  113 

Who  then  are  the  best  available  persons  for  our  Sun- 
day School  teachers  ? 

1.  It  is  evident  that  both  men  and  women  teachers  are 
needed,  with  no  great  preponderance  of  either. 

2.  The  best  men,  the  business  men,  the  educated  men, 
the  men  of  character,  the  men  of  thought  and  action,  in 
the  Church.  These  help  to  give  character  to  the  Sunday 
School,  as  not  an  institution  merely  for  the  children  and 
the  uneducated,  but  one  worthy  of  the  best  talent  and 
best  men.  It  is  the  presence  of  these  men  as  teachers  or 
scholars  that  furnishes  the  strongest  attraction  for  keeping 
the  young  men  in  the  Sunday  School.  The  unofficial  lay- 
men's example  can  do  what  the  pastor  himself,  or  any  paid 
official,  cannot  do.  It  is  a  sad  thing  for  any  Church  when 
its  leading  men  ignore  the  Sunday  School. 

3.  The  best  women,  the  women  of  character,  of  gra- 
ciousness,  of  culture,  of  influence.  Let  me  speak  to  them 
in  the  glowing  words  of  Ruskin  :  "  You  have  heard  it 
said  that  flowers  only  flourish  rightly  in  the  garden  of 
some  one  who  loves  them.  I  know  you  would  like  that 
to  be  true  ;  you  would  think  it  a  pleasant  magic  if  you 
could  flush  your  flowers  into  brighter  bloom  by  a  kind 
look  upon  them:  nay,  more,  if  your  look  had  the  power 
not  only  to  cheer  but  to  guard  them  —  if  you  could  bid 
the  black  blight  turn  away,  and  the  knotted  caterpillar 
spare  —  if  you  could  bid  the  dew  fall  upon  them  in  the 
drought,  and  say  to  the  south  wind,  in  frost,  — '  Come, 
thou  south,  and  breathe  upon  my  garden,  that  the  spices 
of  it  may  flow  out.'  This  you  would  think  a  great  thing  ! 
And  do  you  not  think  it  a  greater  thing  that  all  this  (and 
how  much  more  than  this  !)  you  can  do,  for  fairer  flowers 
than   these,  —  flowers  that   could  bless    you   for  having 


114  THE   FRONT    LINE 

blessed  them,  and  will  love  you  for  having  loved  them,  — 
flowers  that  have  eyes  like  yours,  and  thouglits  like  yours, 
—  which  once  saved  are  saved  forever  ?  Is  this  only  a 
little  power  ?  "  i 

4.  Parents  who  have  had  experience  with  children 
know  their  nature,  their  faults,  and  their  virtues,  and 
know  how  to  overcome  their  faults  and  cherish  their  vir- 
tues, who  obey  the  Talmud's  admonition  that  "  children 
should  be  punished  with  one  hand  but  caressed  with  two.'* 
Though  they  know  as  little  of  the  theories  of  child-train- 
ing as  the  great  poets  knew  of  the  theories  of  the  poetic 
art,  yet  the  best  men  and  women  in  the  world  have  grown 
up  under  their  training.  God,  through  nature,  has  taught 
us  where  to  find  the  best  teachers  of  children. 

In  a  note  to  Kant's  Educational  Theory^  Professor  Buch- 
ner  says,  "Modern  pedagogy  is  coming  more  and  more 
to  ally  the  fundamental  qualities  of  the  real  teacher  to 
the  characteristics  of  the  maternal  instincts,  an  extension 
of  which  should  pass  upward  into  the  work  of  educa- 
tion." 

In  like  manner  an  English  writer  tells  us  that  a  large 
number  in  our  Sunday  Schools  do  not  have  what  he 
calls  "moral  mothering."  "We  never  see  the  true  work 
of  the  Sunday  School  while  we  regard  it  as  only  teaching 
the  Bible.  It  is  teaching  the  Bible  as  the  agency  for  the 
moral  mothering  of  our  scholars.  What  the  young  peo- 
ple in  our  Sunday  School  lack,  as  the  equipment  for  a  life 
of  relationships  and  duties,  we  —  teachers  —  are  called 
upon  to  supply ;  and  for  our  work  we  shall  have  to  de- 
velop systems  and  methods  which  will  not  follow  the 
pattern  of  the  day  school,  but  the  pattern  of  the  Christian 
1  Sesame  and  Lilies. 


TEACHER   TRAINING  115 

mother,  of  a  Christian  home.     Our  ideal  is  not  the  cul- 
tured day  school  teacher,  but  the  skilful  home-mother." 

5.  Intelligent  young  people,  bright,  active,  and  earnest, 
who  are  striving  to  be  better,  struggling  upward  with 
many  a  failure  and  many  a  victory,  are  within  easy  mem- 
ory of  their  childhood's  experience,  in  close  sympathy 
with  the  young.  These  often  are  looked  up  to  and 
admired  by  their  juniors,  and  frequently  have  more  in- 
fluence over  the  young,  especially  over  boys,  than  their 
wiser  and  more  learned  elders. 

6.  Christian  day  school  teachers  are  very  useful  in  the 
Sunday  School.  It  is  something  like  their  usual  work, 
and  therefore  more  valuable  in  Sunday  School.  And  it 
would  be  better  for  them  to  neglect  some  other  service 
than  the  hour  with  the  children,  for  which  they  have  been 
specially  trained,  and  through  which  they  may  have  a 
good  influence  over  other  teachers. 

These  are  the  best  available  material  for  the  teaching 
force  of  the  Sunday  School. 

These  people  need  a  continual  training  in  the  material 
for  teaching  and  the  methods  of  teaching ;  exactly  what 
would  be  best  for  them  as  Christians,  even  if  they  were 
not  teachers. 

There  is  nothing  that  so  much  aids  the  study  of  the 
Bible  among  Christians  as  the  work  of  teaching  in  the 
Sunday  School.  It  is  the  surest  road  to  Christian  cul- 
ture. It  is  the  greatest  educational  force  for  the  whole 
Church. 

This  fact  gives  an  additional  reason  for  small  classes, 
and  many  of  them.  It  is  best  for  the  scholars  to  have 
classes  only  large  enough  to  be  enthusiastic  and  mutually 
helpful,  not  so  large  but  the  busy  teacher  can  know  them 


116  THE   FRONT   LINE 

all,  visit  them  all.  There  are  exceptions,  but  the  whole 
tendency  of  Educational  Science  is  in  favor  of  smaller 
classes.  Many  a  teacher  is  a  success  with  six  or  eight 
scholars,  who  would  be  a  failure  with  ten  or  twelve.  It 
gives  many  definite  Christian  work  to  do.  A  large  part 
of  the  training  of  adults  comes  from  dealing  with  children. 
"  I  am  sure  that  Victor  Hugo  was  right  when  he  said  that 
God's  — 

"  *  .  .  .  speech  is  in  their  halting  tongue 
And  His  forgiveness  in  their  smile.' 

Look  on  your  children  as  in  part  a  revelation  of  God,  and 
your  very  teaching  work  itself  shall  create  something  of 
its  own  spiritual  energy,  and  hence  provide  you  from 
itself  with  Divine  momentum  and  spiritual  dynamic." 

This  training  of  the  Church  reacts  on  the  home  and  on 
the  Sunday  School.  No  specially  trained  teachers  from 
without  can  begin  to  have  as  much  influence  for  good  as 
a  trained  Church  in  the  Sunday  School.  There  is  an 
immense  amount  of  nonsense  uttered  about  the  scholars 
despising  those  teachers  who  are  not  as  technically  trained 
as  their  day  school  teachers.  I  cannot  find  that  there  is 
as  much  of  that  feeling  in  the  Sunday  School  as  in  the 
day  school  and  college.  Of  course  there  is  apt  to  be  a 
stage  in  the  development  of  young  people  when,  accord- 
ing to  Professor  Stalker,  they  agree  with  Carlyle  in  think- 
ing mankind  mostly  fools  and  those  older  persons  who  do 
not  agree  with  them  old  fogies.  But  children  do  not 
usually  despise  those  who  love  them,  and  have  real  char- 
acter, even  if  they  have  not  every  detail  of  knowledge  at 
their  tongue's  end,  any  more  than  a  freshman  despises  a 
college  president  because  he  may  not  be  able  to  pass  his 
own  entrance  examination. 


TEACHER    TRAINING  117 

It  is  not  very  uncommon  for  teachers,  when  they  have 
heard  a  convention  lecture  on  the  ideal  teacher  to  be  so 
discouraged  at  their  distance  from  the  ideal  that  they 
want  to  give  up  their  classes,  and  the  better  teachers  they 
are,  the  more  modest  they  are  apt  to  be  about  their  own 
attainments. 

If  the  twelve  apostles,  "unlearned  and  ignorant  men," 
should  come  incognito  and  apply  to  be  teachers,  they 
would  be  ruled  out  by  many  theorists,  and  yet  by  going 
to  the  School  of  Christ,  and  receiving  the  baptism  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  they  have  transformed  a  large  part  of  the 
world.  Just  such  men  and  women  are  in  our  Sunday 
Schools  to-day,  and  what  they  are  to  do  is  not  to  leave 
the  school,  not  give  up  their  teaching,  but  to  do  exactly 
what  the  apostles  did,  —  go  to  school  to  Christ  and  open 
their  souls  to  the  Holy  Spirit. 

The  school  is  improved,  not  so  much  by  exchanging 
poor  teachers  for  better  ones  as  by  changing  them  into 
better  teachers  ;  changing  the  hot-blooded  Simon  into 
Peter  the  rock,  and  the  "son  of  thunder"  into  Saint  John. 

It  is  helpful  to  know  that  almost  all  the  good  work  in 
the  world  is  done  by  imperfect  men  and  imperfect  instru- 
ments. Every  hero  has  been  vulnerable  at  some  point ; 
every  saint  has  failed  in  one  direction  at  least. 

^'  There's  a  fleck  of  rust  on  a  flawless  blade  — 
On  the  armor  of  price  there's  one  ; 
There's  a  mole  on  the  cheek  of  a  lovely  maid  — 
There  are  spots  upon  the  sun. 

"  But  the  blade  of  Damascus  has  succored  the  weak, 
The  shield  saved  a  knight  from  a  fall ; 
The  mole  is  a  grace  on  my  lady's  cheek  — 
The  sun,  it  shines  for  all." 


118  THE   FRONT   LINE 

The  most  entrancing  vision  of  beauty  I  ever  beheld  was 
the  view  from  the  Eiffel  Tower,  looking  clown  at  night 
upon  the  enclosure  of  the  Exposition  buildings  in  Paris. 
The  architecture  of  tlie  buildings  themselves  was  outlined 
in  golden  and  silver  light.  The  very  trees  bore  fruit  of 
electric  lights.  Tiie  groups  of  statuary  were  illuminated. 
The  lawns  were  like  immense  emeralds  surrounded  by 
frames  of  golden  light.  The  illuminated  fountains,  not 
from  light  thrown  upon  them  as  often  seen  at  Saratoga 
and  Niagara  Falls,  but  from  light  underneath,  threw  up 
their  waters  in  a  glorious  changing  harmony  of  brilliant 
colors,  like  variegated  fireworks.  It  was  like  a  dream  of 
Paradise,  a  vision  of  fairy-land.  Then  it  came  to  me 
that  all  tliis  beauty  was  made  from  the  grass  and  water 
and  light  of  our  common,  everyday  life ;  and  that  so 
God  can  take  the  materials  now  in  our  souls,  and 
in  society,  and  transform  them  into  the  glories  of  his 
new  Jerusalem. 

The  last  thing  for  us  to  do  is  to  be  discouraged  by  high 
ideals. 

"  If  only  we  strive  to  be  pure  and  true, 
To  each  of  us  there  will  come  an  hour 
When  the  tree  of  life  shall  burst  into  flower, 
And  rain  at  our  feet  the  glorious  dower 
Of  something  grander  than  ever  we  knew." 

VII.  The  Church  should  provide  the  Means  for  Teacher 
Training.  —  First,  there  should  be  a  Reference  Library, 
always  open  to  all  at  all  times.  It  should  contain  not 
only  books  on  the  Bible,  and  on  the  lessons  as  they  come, 
but  books  on  the  art  of  teaching,  pedagogy,  on  child 
nature,  and  child  training,  as  Carlyle  says,  "  The  true 
university  of  these  days  is  a  collection  of  books." 


TEACHEii  tkai:ning  119 

Second.  Courses  of  Study.  —  The  Churches,  as  part  of 
their  regular  expenses,  should  furnish  courses  of  instruc- 
tion on  the  Bible,  on  pedagogy,  and  on  child  study,  for 
the  teachers,  and  equally  for  all  the  community.  They 
will  create  a  general  interest,  and  furnish  instruction 
which  will  be  a  benediction  to  the  home,  and  thus  react 
upon  the  Sunday  School. 

In  the  Sunday  School  of  which  I  am  a  member,  we  have 
tried  various  tentative  ways  of  carrying  out  this  plan. 
The  speakers  have  been,  as  far  as  possible,  experts  in  secu- 
lar education,  who  also  have  experience  in  Sunday  Schools, 
teachers  and  head  masters  of  large  schools  from  our  own 
and  other  cities,  state  agents  of  our  educational  system, 
supervisors  of  schools,  professors  in  theological  seminaries, 
and  in  normal  schools,  and  some  from  our  own  church 
and  school.  These  all  have  received  payment  with  the 
invitation,  except  our  own  members. 

We  have  held  the  meetings  on  Sunday  afternoons,  on 
Sunday  evenings,  after  the  weekly  prayer  meeting,  and  in 
place  of  the  weekly  prayer  meeting  on  alternate  weeks, 
with  special  music.  I  very  much  incline  to  favor  this 
latter  plan,  alternating  the  religious  experience  meetings 
with  educational  study  of  the  Bible.  It  is  very  difficult 
in  these  times  of  many  interests  to  make  a  success  of  such 
a  course  of  study  on  a  separate  evening. 

These  courses  have  all  been  free  since  the  first  one, 
when  a  class  was  formed.  They  have  been  advertised  by 
programmes,  and  as  far  as  possible  there  has  been  union 
with  other  churches. 

Third.  Specimen  Teaching.  —  There  should  be  much 
more  learning  from  others  than  has  been  common.  It  is 
often  almost  a  revelation.    Take  pains  to  go  into  the  classes 


120  THE   FRONT   LINE 

of  the  best  teachers  in  your  own  and  in  other  schools. 
In  normal  schools  there  are  model  schools,  where  the 
students,  having  learned  principles  and  theories  from 
other  teachers,  go  to  see  these  principles  and  theories  put 
into  practice.  All  efforts  to  form  an  idea  of  the  Golden 
Candlestick  from  the  descriptions  were  failures  till  a 
model  of  it  was  found  on  the  Arch  of  Titus. 

Bishop  Vincent,  in  his  Modern  Sunday  School^  has  some 
admirable  suggestions  on  this  point. 

"  One  can  do  any  piece  of  work  the  better  for  having 
first  seen  the  same  thing  done  by  another.  Young  teachers 
of  the  Bible  should  enjoy  frequent  opportunities  of  this 
kind  in  their  special  work.  We  place  such  observation 
of  actual  teaching  only  second  in  practical  value  to  the 
young  teacher's  practice  under  the  eye  and  subject  to  the 
keen  criticism  of  the  accomplished  instructor.  The  very 
best  use  of  specimen  teaching  is  that  proposed  some  years 
ago  by  an  efficient  Sunday  School  superintendent,  who, 
feeling  the  need  of  raising  up  a  better  class  of  young 
teachers,  thus  proposed  to  utilize  the  weekly  services  of 
his  very  best  teachers  :  — 

"  I  propose  to  appoint  in  my  school  a  corps  of  assistant 
teachers.  These  assistant  teachers  are  to  be  selected  from 
our  oldest  scholars,  and  are  each  to  sit  and  recite  with 
some  one  of  the  classes  for  two  or  three  Sundays,  and 
then  with  another  class,  and  so  on,  until  each  assistant 
shall  have  had  an  opportunity  of  noting  the  methods  of 
management  and  instruction  adopted  by  a  majority  of  the 
regular  teachers.  They  are  always  to  recite  and  take  part 
in  the  lesson  in  the  class  with  which  they  sit,  so  as  not  to 
embarrass  the  teacher.  They  are  to  take  private  notes, 
and   compare   for   themselves    the   different    methods   of 


TEACHER   TRAINING  121 

instruction,  culling  out  the  best  features  in  each.  With 
the  practical  information  thus  obtained,  revised  and 
strengthened  by  a  further  comparison  with  the  systems 
reported  in  the  published  works  upon  the  subject,  these 
assistants  will  be  prepared  to  enter  upon  their  work  with 
great  advantages,  and  we  shall  never  be  at  a  loss  to  sup- 
ply a  class  with  an  efficient  instructor,  nor  to  provide  a 
substitute  for  an  absent  teacher. 

"  These  assistants  are  to  pledge  themselves  never,  either 
publicly  or  privately,  to  make  comparisons  between  the 
methods  of  the  teachers  whom  they  watch,  but  are  to 
keep  wholly  and  sacredly  to  themselves  the  result  of  their 
observations.  They  may,  at  the  end  of  their  probation, 
give'  a  synoptical  memorandum  of  the  different  modes 
noticed,  and  of  the  excellences  and  deficiencies  observed, 
provided  it  is  done  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  connect 
the  one  or  the  other  with  any  individual.  These  precau- 
tions seem  necessary,  in  order  to  prevent  the  possibility  of 
ill-feeling  or  embarrassment  among  the  regular  teachers 
from  a  criticism  of  their  efforts." 

It  seems  wise  to  have,  more  frequently  than  of  late,  model 
classes  in  our  Sunday  School  institutes  and  conventions. 

Fourth.  Teachers'  meetings  impart  knowledge,  inspire 
interest,  and  awaken  suggestions.  (I  knew  well  the  head 
master  of  a  city  school,  who  said  that  the  most  he  gained 
from  a  certain  Saturday  afternoon  Bible  class  was  that  he 
taught  on  Sunday  just  the  opposite  ideas  with  a  great  deal 
of  enthusiasm.)  Teachers'  meetings  give  real  specimen 
lessons  and  show  the  other  teachers  not  only  what  to  teach, 
but  how  to  teach. 

It  is  a  great  thing  in  any  city  to  have  a  Union  Teachers' 
Meeting  taught  by  tlie  best  teacher  within  reach. 


122  THE   FRONT   LINE 

Each  Sunday  School  should  have  a  teachers'  meeting 
of  its  own  for  various  purposes.  But  there  should  be 
great  variety  in  its  methods.  Unless  there  is  some  teacher 
who  stands  far  above  all  others,  it  is  better  to  have  more 
than  one  teacher,  not  only  because  it  is  difficult  to  find 
any  one  person 'who  can  give  the  time  to  it,  but  also  be- 
cause it  gives  more  examples  of  teaching  methods. 

An  adaptation  of  this  method  shown  me  by  Mr.  Charles 
G.  Trumbull  of  The  Sunday  School  Times,  in  the  Walnut 
Street  Presbyterian  Sunday  School  of  Philadelphia,  is 
remarkably  ingenious,  and  equally  successful.  For  the 
second  quarter  there  were  nine  leaders,  and  thirteen 
"  angles "  or  points  of  view,  each  of  them  under  the 
charge  of  a  separate  person,  as  "  approach,"  "  Lesson 
story,"  "Orientalisms,"  ''difficulties,"  "primary,"  each 
leader  notifying  in  advance  those  of  them  who  would  be 
needed  for  his  particular  lesson.  This  meeting  was  held 
just  before  the  weekly  prayer  meeting. 

Fifth.  The  Normal  Class,  the  Teachers'  Class. — The 
study  of  children  under  our  care,  the  note-book  like  Emer- 
son's which  he  called  his  Savings  Bank  —  all  are  helpful 
means  of  training  ourselves  to  become  good  teachers. 

"  It  is  the  truth  which  has  become  a  personal  convic- 
tion, and  is  burning  in  a  man's  heart  so  that  he  cannot 
be  silent,  which  is  his  message." 

"  The  number  of  such  truths  which  a  man  has  appropri- 
ated from  the  Bible  and  verified  in  his  own  experience  is 
the  measure  of  his  power."  ^ 

"  The  gold  of  thought  has  generally  to  be  collected  as 
gold  dust." 

"It  takes  a  bushel  of  charcoal  to  form  one  diamond." 
1  Rev.  James  Stalker  in  The  Preacher  and  his  Models. 


TEACHER   TRAINING  123 

Sixth.  Learning  by  Teaching.  —  "  Aristotle  long  ago 
said  that  playing  on  the  harp  was  learned  by  playing 
on  the  harp.''  All  the  lessons  in  grammar  and  the  the- 
ories of  poetry  never  made  a  good  writer  or  a  good  poet, 
except  as  he  consciously  or  unconsciously  put  them  into 
practice. 

"  The  Church  has  an  advantage  here  which  few  public 
schools  possess.  It  is  a  community  of  men  and  women 
who  are  learning  to  live  together.  Its  object  is  not 
merely  to  know,  but  to  do,  and  to  learn  by  doing.  The 
laboratory  method  may  be  slowly  and  painfully  intro- 
duced into  our  schools;  it  is  the  very  life  of  our 
Churches."  i 

"Theory,"  says  Professor  Hamill,  "is  a  good  thing; 
practice  is  its  coordinate  —  not  a  better  thing,  but  another 
good  thing.  ...  I  believe  in  practice,  but  take  care 
that  you  do  not  practise  blunders,  else  you  may  become 
successful  only  as  a  blunderer.  I  have  known  teachers 
who  persisted  in  practising  with  great  diligence  and 
patience,  but  in  the  end  it  was  a  blunder  which  had 
been  the  subject  of  practice.  Be  not  discouraged  if  you 
make  mistakes  in  your  practice.  I  believe  it  was  Carlyle 
who  said,  '  Heaven  was  made  for  those  who  blundered  on 
earth.'  The  man  who  blunders  but  turns  his  blunders 
into  steps  heavenward,  is  the  man  who  succeeds.  If  you 
do  not  practise  your  blunders,  but  practise  your  own  suc- 
cesses and  the  successes  of  other  people,  you  will  surely 
acquire  the  art.   .   .  . 

"It  needs  to  be  impressed  upon  those  who  desire  to 
teach  yet  are  reluctant  to  assume  the  teacher's  obligations, 
that  the  way  is  open,  by  practice,  and  through  the  helpful 
1  President  Faunce  at  the  R.  E.  A.  meeting  in  Philadelphia. 


124  THE   FRONT   LINE 

experiences  of  other  teachers,  to  certain  efficiency  in  the 
art  of  Sunday  School  teaching."  ^ 

We  learn  not  only  how  to  teach,  but  the  substance  of 
the  teaching,  by  teaching.  Imparting  knowledge  is  one 
of  the  greatest  helps  toward  gaining  knowledge. 

Why  is  a  city  richer  than  the  same  number  of  acres  of 
pasture  land  ?  It  is  because  it  is  the  centre  into  which 
all  things  flow,  and  are  poured  out  again  by  every  avenue 
of  commerce.  There  is  no  other  way  for  the  soul  to  grow 
rich  except  by  making  it  the  highway  through  which  knowl- 
edge and  life  and  love  come  from  God,  and  are  sent  on  to 
help  and  bless  others. 

"  For  the  heart  grows  rich  in  giving : 
All  its  wealth  is  living  grain. 
Seeds  which  mildew  in  the  garner, 
Scattered,  fill  with  gold  the  plain." 

In  the  words  of  Archbishop  Trench : — 

"Dig  channels  for  the  streams  of  Love 
Where  they  may  broadly  run  ; 
And  Love  has  overflowing  streams 
To  fill  them  every  one. 

"  But  if  at  any  time  thou  cease 
Such  channels  to  provide, 
The  very  springs  of  Love  for  thee 
Will  soon  be  parched  and  dried. 

"  For  we  must  share,  if  we  would  keep, 
That  good  thing  from  above  ; 
Ceasing  to  give,  we  cease  to  have. 
Such  is  the  law  of  Love." 

May  we  all  join  tlie  glorious  company  of  the  trained 
teachers. 

1  Professor  Hamill  in  TJie  Sunday  School  Teacher. 


VI 

A  STUDY  IX  GRADING 

The  Necessity  for  Grading.  —  That  the  Sunday  School 
should  be  graded  not  only  "  goes  without  saying,"  but  it 
has  been  going  with  saying  for  many  years.  Child-study, 
pedagogy,  psychology,  common  sense,  present  experience, 
and  past  experience  all  unite  in  demanding  it,  with  no 
discordant  voice. 

Grading  is  no  late  discovery.  No  new  Columbus,  sail- 
ing over  unknown  seas  and  steering  by  the  compass  of 
pedagogical  principles,  has  suddenly  discovered  a  hitherto 
unknown  continent  in  the  Sunday  School  world.  No 
modern  Kepler  has  worked  out  by  scientific  principles 
what  ought  to  be,  and,  pointing  his  telescope  to  the  Sun- 
day School  heavens,  has  revealed  a  new  planet  there  called 
Grading.     Progress  is  seldom  made  in  that  way. 

What  is  New  in  Grading. 

1.  A  new  emphasis  is  laid  on  Grading,  urging  its  neces- 
sity, and  creating  a  wider  realization  of  its  value,  necessity, 
and  possibility,  and  arousing  a  deeper  interest  in  the 
movement. 

2.  New  methods  of  Grading  are  peopling  and  develop- 
ing the  old  continent,  as  America  has  been  developed  in 
the  last  century.  It  is  removing  the  fogs  and  clearing 
the  atmosphere  so  that  the  old  stars  shall  shine  with  more 
enlightening  radiance. 

125 


126  THE   FRONT   LINE 

3.  A  new  opportunity  is  made  possible  by  the  progress 
of  the  past. 

4.  There  is  a  wider  extension  of  its  practice  and  an 
increasing  number  of  experiments. 

5.  There  has  been  a  new  development  of  the  sciences 
which  enforce  the  necessity  and  guide  by  their  principles. 

''  The  authority  for  such  a  plan  is  abundant,"  says  Pro- 
fessor E.  P.  St.  John.  "The  Sunday  School  is  the  edu- 
cational department  of  the  Church,  and  every  educator 
stands  as  a  champion  of  gradation.  Every  study  of  child- 
hood indicates  its  value.  Every  systematic  and  progressive 
course  of  Bible  study  requires  it.  The  laws  of  teaching 
make  it  essential,  and  the  methods  of  teaching  are  adapted 
to  it." 

Here,  as  in  other  departments,  there  is  an  imperative 
need  that  the  Sunday  Schools  all  over  the  land  should  see 
the  Front  Line  and  come  up  to  it  and  march  on  with  it ; 
for  the  Front  Line  itself  is  hourly  moving  forward.  All 
the  Sunday  School  leaders  desire  a  better  grading  than 
exists  in  most  schools.  They  "are  stretching  forward 
to  the  things  which  are  before."  They  are  pressing  "on 
toward  the  goal." 

"  He  who  says  '  I  want  no  more,' 
Confesses  he  has  none." 

Dean  Swift,  in  a  reform  address,  illustrated  his  point 
by  the  story  of  one  of  his  neighbors  who,  by  his  industry 
and  skill,  was  becoming  rich.  It  happened  that  during 
the  process  he  had  been  "  troubled  by  violent  stomachic 
pains,  for  which  he  had  found  no  relief  and  which  were 
the  bane  and  torment  of  his  life." 

"Now,"  continues  the  Dean,  "if  my  excellent  laborer 


A   STUDY   IN   GRADING  127 

were  to  send  for  a  physician  and  to  consult  him  respect- 
ing this  malady,  would  it  not  be  very  singular  language 
if  our  doctor  were  to  say  to  him  :  '  My  good  friend,  you 
surely  will  not  be  so  rash  as  to  attempt  to  get  rid  of  these 
pains  in  your  stomach !  Have  you  not  grown  rich  with 
these  pains  in  your  stomach  ?  Have  you  not  risen  under 
them  from  poverty  to  prosperity?  Has  not  your  situa- 
tion, since  you  were  first  attacked,  been  improving  every 
year?  You  surely  will  not  be  so  foolish  and  indiscreet  as 
to  part  with  the  pains  in  your  stomach  ! ' 

"  What  would  be  the  answer  of  the  rustic  to  this  non- 
sensical monition?  'Monster  of  rhubarb  ! '  he  would  say, 
'  I  am  not  rich  in  consequence  of  the  pains  in  my  stomach, 
but  in  spite  of  the  pains  in  my  stomach ;  and  I  should  be 
ten  times  richer  and  fifty  times  happier  if  I  had  never 
had  any  pains  in  my  stomach  at  all.' " 

Sunday  Schools  have  prospered  with  the  evil  of  very 
imperfect  grading.  They  have  done  a  vast  amount  of 
good.  They  have  educated  and  sent  forth  a  multitude  of 
noble  men  and  women.  But,  like  Dean  Swift's  parish- 
ioner, they  have  reached  this  degree  of  prosperity  and 
noble  fruitage,  not  on  account  of  bad  grading,  but  in 
spite  of  it.  For  there  is  no  question  that  a  wise  grading 
makes  the  teaching  easier,  the  instruction  more  efficient, 
and  the  results  more  fruitful. 

Grading  is  the  systematic  adaptation  of  the  school, 
including,  — 

the  lessons  taught, 

the  classification  of  the  pupils, 

the  fitness  of  the  teachers, 

the  methods  of  teaching, 

the  equipment  required. 


128  THE   FRONT   LINE 

to  the  age,  the  intelligence,  the  different  stages  of  growth 
and  development  of  the  various  members  of  the  school. 

"  It  is  really  an  attempt  to  do  God's  work  in  God's  way, 
to  do  the  right  thing  in  the  right  way  for  every  pupil  in 
the  school."^ 

All  the  above  five  parts  of  the  school  must  join  in 
harmony,  if  we  would  have  the  best  work.  "  Graded 
teachers  will  not  atone  for  ungraded  courses  of  study. 
Graded  teachers  and  graded  courses  will  not  atone  for 
ungraded  pupils.  And  graded  teachers  and  graded  pupils 
combined  cannot  atone  for  the  lack  of  properly  graded 
courses  of  study."  ^ 

I.  The  graded  course  of  lessons  must  be  graded  both  in 
Material  and  in  Treatment. 

II.  The  pupils  are  to  be  graded  by  putting  them  into 
classes  or  groups  of  classes  of  the  same  general  age  and 
acquirements,  especially  those  accustomed  to  be  together 
in  day  school  classes. 

In  very  large  schools  there  are  many  advantages  in 
having  a  separate  room  for  each  department,  with  its  own 
opening  exercises  and  methods.  In  every  school  the 
Primary  department  should  have  a  separate  room  when- 
ever possible,  because  everything  connected  with  its  man- 
agement differs  from  those  in  the  other  grades  far  more 
than  the  other  grades  differ  from  one  another. 

In  smaller  schools  it  is  much  better  to  have  the  whole 
school  (except  the  primary  and  an  occasional  special  class 
of  adults,  who  need  all  the  hour  for  the  lesson)  meet 
together  for  the  devotional  exercises,  reports,  and  neces- 

1  Professor  E.  P.  St.  John,  Superintendent  of  the  N.  Y.  State  S.  S. 
Association. 

2  S.  B.  Haslett,  Ph.D.,  in  The  Pedagogical  Bible  School. 


A   STUDY  IN   GRADING  129 

sary  business,  and  then  retire  to  class  rooms,  if  such  rooms 
can  be  obtained.  In  small  schools  it  is  often  better  to 
have  even  the  primary  class  meet  for  a  part  of  this  time 
with  the  rest  of  the  school,  and  give  some  of  the  songs  or 
responses. 

Many  a  school  loses  interest  and  power  and  enthusiasm 
because  of  too  great  a  separation  of  departments.  I  have 
known  schools  where  the  Intermediate  and  lower  depart- 
ments were  intensely  interesting,  but  the  Senior  depart- 
ment dull  and  lifeless  and  unattractive,  because  of  its 
entire  separation  from  the  children  ;  and  the  seniors  com- 
plain of  this  state  of  things.  It  is  unwise  to  exploit  a 
part  of  the  school  at  the  expense  of  the  others,  for  this 
injures  all  departments  ;  it  prevents  the  older  scholars 
from  remaining  in  the  school. 

The  fact  is,  that  all  things  in  the  school  —  courses  of 
study,  classification,  methods  —  are  compelled  to  be  modi- 
fied from  the  pure  individual  ideal,  in  order  to  work 
well  together.  You  cannot  have  even  the  best  poetry 
or  the  best  music  in  the  world  without  modifying  its 
various  elements  from  what  would  be  ideal  for  each 
separate  element.  In  music,  for  instance,  no  organ  or 
piano  can  be  perfectly  tuned  in  each  octave  without  mak- 
ing horrible  discords  when  different  octaves  are  played 
together. 

Many  of  the  criticisms  of  the  Sunday  School  are  unfair, 
and  many  idealists'  plans  and  experiments  fail  from  ignor- 
ing this  fact. 

Rev.  E.  Morris  Fergusson,  of  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  one 
of  the  most  wide-awake,  talented,  and  progressive  of  state 
Sunday  School  secretaries,  wisely  says  :  "  The  social  and 
spiritual  benefits  of  gradation  are  of  more  importance  than 


130  ''  THE   FRONT   LINE 

the  strictly  educational  benefits.  The  advantage  to  the 
primary  child  of  being  in  a  well-organized  Primary  De- 
partment comes  partly  from  the  good  lessons  taught  by 
the  primary  teacher,  but  much  more  from  the  fact  that 
the  child  is  a  member  of  a  department  that  is  run  for  the 
benefit  of  children  from  six  to  eight  years  of  age.  The 
teaching  is  much ;  but  the  life,  the  social  atmosphere,  the 
spiritual  stimulus  and  opportunity,  the  chance  to  live  out 
the  child's  whole  natural  life  during  the  primary  period, 
—  these  are  far  more.  Establish  a  Junior  Department  for 
the  children  from  nine  to  twelve,  and  give  it  the  best 
makeshift  you  can  find  for  a  separate  room,  and  you  begin 
to  create  the  same  kind  of  a  helpful  atmosphere  for  the 
juniors  to  grow  in,  before  you  have  touched  the  lessons  at 
all.  So  with  the  big  intermediate  boys  and  girls  ;  so  with 
the  young  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  Senior  Department ; 
so  with  all." 

III.  The  grading  of  teachers  means  the  finding  or  train- 
ing of  teachers  who  are  peculiarly  adapted  to  certain 
stages  of  the  child's  development,  and  keeping  them  in 
the  same  department  from  year  to  year,  while  the  pupils 
they  teach  pass  from  grade  to  grade,  changing  teachers  as 
they  advance. 

Mr.  Fergusson  continues  :  "  Teachers  who  belong  to  the 
grade,  and  who  are  willing  to  devote  their  Sunday  School 
lives,  for  Christ's  sake,  to  the  study  of  the  problem  of 
teaching  boys  and  girls  of  junior  or  intermediate  or  senior 
age,  these  are  what  our  Sunday  Schools  need  more  than 
separate  rooms  or  graded  lessons.  .  .  .  But  first  we  need, 
for  each  grade,  a  permanent  force  of  teachers." 

This  grading  of  teachers,  though  in  actual  use  for  many 
years  in  the  Primary  Department,  needs  such  a  widening 


A   STUDY   IN   GRADING  131 

of  scope  as  Mr.  Fergusson  suggests.  But  the  grading  of 
teaching  should  be  by  departments,  and  not  by  annual 
courses  or  by  a  particular  kind  of  lessons,  as  the  Old 
Testament,  or  the  Gospel  story,  because  a  continued  dwell- 
ing in  one  portion  of  the  Bible  alone  is  narrowing,  and 
needs  the  broadening  effect  of  wider  study  and  wider 
teaching.  Leading  educators  are  condemning  the  method 
of  keeping  teachers  too  long  in  any  one  small  grade  in 
the  day  schools,  but  advocating  the  retaining  of  them  in 
the  larger  departments. 

To  quote  from  Dr.  Charles  Roads,  in  a  manual  issued 
by  the  Pennsylvania  State  Sabbath  School  Association: 
"Experts  with  each  period  are  required,  and  to  produce 
these  experts  the  teacher  must  be  joined  to  the  depart- 
ment rather  than  to  one  class  for  a  long  term  of  years. 
A  teacher  takes  a  class  for  four  or  five  years  through  a 
department,  then  remains  to  carry  another  class  through 
it,  while  the  students  receive  the  benefit  of  another  expert 
teacher  in  the  next  grade.  The  peril  of  having  only  one 
teacher  in  a  child's  whole  Sunday  School  life,  and  he  or 
she  with  one-sided  character  or  unhelpful  spirit,  is  very 
great.  All  of  us  are  imperfect,  and  the  best  character 
development  comes  from  three  or  four  good  teachers  influ- 
encing successively;  and  when  each  teacher  becomes  an 
expert  in  a  department  the  power  of  the  influence  exerted 
is  multiplied.  We  actually  can  report  that  the  personal 
ties  become  stronger,  the  personal  influence  more  power- 
ful, and  no  complete  breaking  of  old  ties  is  necessary 
when  promotion  occurs.  The  former  teacher  continues 
helpful." 

For  the  intermediate  and  senior  grades  a  very  large 
proportion  of  teachers  can  adapt  themselves  to  any  of  the 


132  THE   FKONT   LINE 

grades  at  will,  with  some  special  study  and  good  common 
sense. 

But  in  every  place  we  find  those  who  have  peculiar 
gifts,  sometimes  undeveloped  till  put  into  use.  One  has 
a  great  gift  in  teaching  boys ;  give  him  boys  to  teach, 
and  put  no  limit  to  the  numbers  except  the  limit  of  his 
ability.  Some  can  teach  boys  or  girls  of  college  age  with 
great  acceptance  and  power.  For  special  adult  classes 
there  are  required  experts  in  different  directions.  For 
many  of  them  different  teachers  are  required  for  the  same 
class  at  different  times.  In  all  cases  use  graded  teachers 
whenever  they  can  be  found. 

But  do  not  let  your  good  teachers  be  discouraged  be- 
cause they  feel  that  they  have  no  special  talent.  In  the 
day  school  the  average  intelligent  person  is  trained  for 
almost  any  position  in  the  schools.  The  same  is  true  of 
Sunday  School  teachers. 

Schemes  of  Grading 

The  simplest,  most  natural,  and  abiding  scheme,  adapted 
in  a  way  to  all  schools,  is  that  of  Three  Great  Depart- 
ments, each  of  which  may  be  subdivided  into  courses  or 
grades,  according  to  circumstances. 

Cradle  Roll.  —  Not  meeting  with  the  school,  but  belonging  to  it. 
1.  Primary.  Eight  or  nine  years  of  age  and 

under;  same  as   Primary  in 
day  schools. 
Departments  ^  2.  Intermediate    or    Equivalent  to  Grammar  Schools. 
general  school. 
3.  Senior.  Equivalent    to     High     School 

grade  and  upward. 
Home  Department.  —  Not  meeting  with  the  school,  but  members 
of  it. 


A   STUDY  IN   GRADING  133 

.  Note  that  in  a  broad  way  these  correspond  to  the  larger, 
distinctive  divisions  of  the  day  schools,  —  Primary,  Gram- 
mar, and  High. 

They  make  a  distinction  between  the  grades  and  de- 
partments. 

All  kinds  of  Sunday  Schools  have  something  of  these 
grades,  "whether  or  not  blind  eyes  perceive  them."  I 
have  never  seen  an  entirely  ungraded  school.  Even  the 
poorest  are  not  fairly  compared  with  the  old  ungraded 
day  schools,  where  one  teacher  taught  all  grades  and  all 
kinds  of  lessons.  Yet  there  needs  to  be  a  more  clear  dis- 
tinction and  a  better  use  of  these  grades  to  make  a  school 
fully  graded.  But  the  method  of  promotion  is  not  a  test 
as  to  the  fact  of  gradation. 

It  is  between  these  departments  that  there  should  be 
some  definite  mark  of  promotion.  The  scholars  should  be 
made  to  perceive  that  in  going  up  from  one  to  another, 
an  advance  is  made  to  a  distinctly  higher  position,  like 
the  change  from  the  Grammar  School  to  the  High 
School. 

This  is  a  distinction  of  no  small  importance  if  we  would 
keep  the  young  men  and  women  in  tlie  Sunday  School. 
Professor  Irving  F.  Wood  of  Smith  College  made  a 
strong  point  of  this  in  a  late  address.  He  says  truly  that 
we  must  do  one  of  two  things  if  we  would  keep  the  young 
men  in  the  Sunday  School,  and  thus  preserve  the  spiritual 
results  of  the  long  years  that  have  gone  before. 

One  method  is  for  the  parents  and  grandparents  to 
attend  the  school,  in  which  case  there  is  no  special  danger 
of  the  children's  feeling  that  they  have  outgrown  it. 

The  other  method  is  "to  give  the  upper  grades  the 
relative  dignity  which  the  High  School  has  in  the  public 


134  THE   FRONT   LINE 

school  system,"  and  we  might  add,  to  give  wherever  possible 
something  of  the  college  grade  to  selected  classes.  Pro- 
fessor Wood  enforces  this  principle  from  his  own  experi- 
ence. "I  confess  that  it  is  usually  painful  to  attend  a 
service  on  Children's  Sunday,  because,  when  the  children 
march  in,  one  so  pities  the  big  boys  who  end  the  long  line. 
They  cannot  be  called  children  by  any  figure  of  speech, 
and  yet  their  loyalty  to  the  Sunday  School  drives  them  to 
this  position.  I  take  off  my  hat  to  their  heroism.  At  the 
same  time  I  recall  an  overgrown  lad  who  refused,  on  a  like 
occasion,  to  march  or  sit  with  his  class,  and  fled  to  a  safe 
retreat  in  the  gallery.  My  recollection  is  without  either 
shame  or  penitence.  I  stand  ready  at  any  time  to  aid  and 
abet  a  rebellion  of  that  sort.  No  one  has  a  right,  at  the 
very  time  when  we  want  to  make  the  strongest  spiritual 
impression,  to  submit  the  pride  of  growing  youth  to  such 
humiliation.  Our  general  system  of  classification  will  get 
rid  of  that  by  and  by." 

Margaret  Meredith  adds  this  testimony  :  "  It  is  felt  that 
grown  persons  are  very  hard  to  induce  to  attend  Sunday 
School.  I  cannot  believe  that,  for  the  only  school  in  which 
I  ever  saw  the  same  steady  effort  made  to  invite  them 
which  is  made  for  children  was  entirely  successful.  .   .   . 

"  Grown  people,  both  men  and  women,  can  only  be  drawn 
into  Sunday  School  if  the  ideas  of  childishness  and  igno- 
rance be  carefully  disassociated  with  their  attendance 
there ;  to  this  end  one  easy  and  efficient  measure  is  scru- 
pulously to  call  all  your  adult  classes  'Bible  Classes.' 
Also,  in  providing  lesson  helps  for  them,  provide  Bible 
class  helps  if  such  are  given  to  any  scholars." 

This  distinct  advance  is  usually  made  in  transferring 
scholars  from  the  Primary  department  to  what  is  usually 


A  STUDY  IN   GRADING 


135 


the  main  school.     Let  the  same  be  done  now  for  those 
who  go  up  to  the  High  School  grade. 

An  advance  on  this  scheme  which  the  majority  of  schools 
can  adopt  consists  of  the  following  grades,  the  names  of 
which  were  agreed  upon  unanimously  by  the  Editors' 
Association  last  June,  in  the  following  order,  — 

1.  Primary,  3.    Intermediate, 

2.  Junior,  4.    Senior, 

5.    Advanced. 

the  Cradle  Roll  and  Home  Department  being  understood. 
The  three  large  departments  are  the  basis  of  a  more  com- 
plete grading :  — 


Departments 

Grades 

Psychological  Divi- 
sion: Average  Ages 

Cradle  Roll. 

I.  Primary 

1. 

Kindergarten. 

3  to  6  years  ;  those 
unable  to  read. 

12. 

Primary. 

6  to  8  or  9  years. 

II,  Intermediate  or 

r3. 
14. 

Junior. 

9  to  11  years. 

main  school. 

Intermediate. 

11  or  12  to  15  or  16. 

III.  Senior,  or  ad- 

'5. 

6. 

Young  people. 

15   years   and   up- 

vanced, or 
Bible  classes 

Adults  or  Advanced. 

wards. 

17. 

Special  elective 

classes. 

^8. 

Normal  and  teacher-train- 

ing classes. 

Home  Department. 

There  are  schools  which  are  experimenting  with  schemes 
of  grading  with  a  different  grade  for  each  year,  but  in  the 
schools  with  which  I  am  acquainted  the  experiment  has 
not  been  going  on  long  enough  to  test  its  value. 


136  THE   FRONT  LINE 


Observations 


1.  These  grades  must  be  very  flexible.  In  the  best  day 
schools  there  is  a  strong  tendency  to  modify  strict  grading. 
Professor  Search  in  his  Ideal  School  contends  that  years 
are  lost  in  the  common  graded  school  by  the  brighter 
scholars  being  kept  down  to  the  average.  "  There  is  no 
objection  to  classification,  provided  it  is  of  flexible  charac- 
ter. Certainly  there  is  some  advantage  in  gathering  into 
working  sections  pupils  of  kindred  interest,  and,  to  a  cer- 
tain extent,  of  the  same  general  working  strength.  What 
is  contended  against  is  the  assumption  that  the  graded 
organization  as  operated  almost  universally  in  the  public 
schools  meets  the  requirements  of  the  needs  of  individual 
schools.   .  .  .     The  graded  school  does  not  grade." 

A  professor  in  a  great  University  tells  me,  at  the  time 
of  this  writing,  that  the  danger  of  the  Sunday  School  is 
the  adoption  of  day  school  systems  which  are  being  dis- 
counted already  by  the  best  day  schools,  and  especially  of 
the  attempt  to 

2.  Grade  the  Sunday  School  by  the  Grammar  School 
grades  of  the  same  scholars,  which  is  pedagogically  wrong, 
except  in  the  general  way  referred  to  above.  The  subjects 
of  study  are  too  different  to  apply  the  same  grading  to 
both  Sunday  and  day  schools.  One  scholar  may  be 
advanced  in  historical,  or  thoughtful  subjects,  several 
degrees  beyond  the  arithmetic  or  geography  by  which  he 
is  graded  in  the  grammar  school.  There  are  many  other 
things  which  should  be  used  in  making  tests  for  the  grades 
to  which  a  Sunday  School  scholar  should  belong. 

3.  The  tests  of  grading  must  also,  of  necessity,  be  very 
flexible.     I  know  of  no  Sunday  Schools,  even  those  which 


A   STUDY   IN   GRADING  137 

pride  themselves  on  the  completeness  of  the  grading, 
where  the  test  of  advancement  to  a  higher  grade  is  purely 
the  scholar's  knowledge  of  the  regular  lessons  of  the  pre- 
vious year.  Mere  age  is  not  a  scientific  test,  but  it  must 
be  one  of  the  considerations,  or  some  of  those  who  most 
need  the  Sunday  School  will  be  driven  away,  with  no 
advantage  to  scholar  or  school,  but  only  to  an  imperfect 
theory. 

In  quite  a  number  of  schools,  using  different  courses  of 
lessons,  the  grading  is  in  accordance  with  certain  supple- 
mental lessons.  This  is  good  for  the  advancement  from 
the  Primary  to  the  Intermediate,  because  such  lessons 
form  part  of  the  regular  course  there ;  but  beyond  that 
the  supplemental  lesson  test  is  unpedagogical  except  as 
one  means  of  ascertaining  the  scholars'  fitness  for  higher 
grade  material  and  methods. 

The  scholar's  general  fitness  for  a  grade  is  the  real  test, 
however  that  fitness  is  ascertained,  modified  by  the  value 
to  him  of  various  kinds  of  knowledge  taught  only  in  cer- 
tain grades,  or  of  finishing  a  course  he  has  begun. 

There  is  no  little  incentive  to  good  work  arising  from 
the  privilege  of  advancement  whenever  prepared  for  it. 
Since  the  younger  Sunday  School  scholars  are  also  in  the 
day  schools,  there  must  be  the  same  variations  of  prog- 
ress in  both ;  and  Professor  Search  gives  tabulated  experi- 
ments, in  which,  in  a  course  of  Latin,  the  scholars'  progress 
varied  in  the  proportion  of  40  for  the  lowest  to  140  for 
the  highest,  and  in  arithmetic  from  140  for  the  lowest  to 
479  for  the  highest,  i.e.  in  each  study  the  highest  was 
about  3i  times  beyond  the  lowest. 

It  is  plain  that  throughout  the  school  there  must  be 
great   flexibility    in   grading   and   grading   tests,   or   the 


138  THE   FKONT   LINE 

history  of  the  school  will  be  but  a  parallel  to  Hawthorne's 
short  story  of  The  Birth-Marh^  where  the  professor  had  a 
wife  of  exquisite  beauty,  the  only  imperfection  in  which 
was  a  birth-mark  on  her  cheek.  By  means  of  chemicals 
and  various  experiments  he  had  succeeded  in  gradually 
reducing  the  marring  color  and  the  size  of  the  spot ;  but 
when  the  last  experiment  had  succeeded,  the  disfigure- 
ment had  vanished  and  he  had  a  perfect  wife,  but  she  was 
dead. 

4.  Another  reason  for  this  flexibility  lies  in  the  fact 
that  the  scholars  in  every  school  are  changing,  some  fall- 
ing out  and  others  entering;  and  part  of  the  mission  of 
every  Sunday  School  is  to  reach  out  a  helping  hand  and  a 
cordial  welcome  to  those  who  are  neglected. 

5.  This  flexibility  does  not  mean  that  grading  is  to  be 
neglected.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
every  good  Sunday  School. 

But  the  improvement  of  the  grading  or  the  introducing 
of  a  good  graded  system  into  any  school  is  a  difficult 
matter  for  most  pastors  and  superintendents,  and  is  usu- 
ally dreaded  by  them.  I  commit  them  to  the  wise  and 
helpful  words  of  that  prince  among  Sunday  School  work- 
ers. Rev.  Dr.  A.  F.  Schauffler  of  New  York,  in  his  Ways 
of  Working.  Whosoever  will  follow  his  advice  and  enter 
in  earnest  upon  the  attempt,  though  he  will  be  discouraged 
at  times,  will  find  at  last  that,  "  like  Alice  in  the  Looking- 
Glass  Country,  when  he  thinks  that  he  has  at  last  got 
out  of  sight  of  the  house,  he  is  just  walking  in  at  the 
front  door." 

6.  It  has  been  well  said  that  "in  secular  schools  the 
lowest  and  the  highest,  the  Kindergarten  and  the  Uni- 
versity, are  best  equipped,  and  the  middle  ranges  need 


A   STUDY   IN   GRADING  139 

reform.  Here  only  the  lowest  has  yet  received  adequate 
attention."  The  early  child-life  has  received  the  most  at- 
tention from  psychologists.  The  adult  grades  have  always 
been  studied,  and  the  grading  of  the  lesson  for  them  is 
easier  than  for  the  lower  grades.  Very  much  is  being  done 
for  Bible  classes,  normal  classes,  men's  elective  classes; 
and  more  remains  to  be  done  in  the  development  of 
this  higher  grade.  But  in  the  Sunday  School,  as  in 
the  day  school,  the  middle  ranges  now  need  the  largest 
attention. 

I  would  adopt  the  words  of  the  preface  of  Professors 
Burton  and  Mathews'  Principles  and  Ideals^  "  We  ven- 
ture to  hope  that  what  we  have  written  will  be  of  value 
for  teachers  of  those  classes  whose  joupils  constitute  what 
is  perhaps  the  greatest  problem  of  the  Sunday  School,  the 
boys  and  girls  of  grammar-school  and  high-school  age." 

Courses  of  Study.  —  Before  the  International  system  was 
introduced  in  1872,  the  Sunday  School  courses  were  in  a 
very  chaotic  condition.  A  great  deal  of  good  work  was 
done.  Individual  systems  were  some  of  them  very  good. 
But  I  found  it  almost  impossible  to  take  the  Sunday 
Schools,  very  much  of  the  time,  out  of  the  Gospels.  Once 
or  twice  my  schools  began  on  Genesis,  but  refused  to  con- 
tinue through  the  year.  There  was  almost  nothing  in 
this  country  for  real  help  for  scholar  or  teacher.  The 
English  Sunday  Schools  were  in  advance  of  ours  in  that 
respect. 

That  the  International  system  met  a  great  need  was 
shown  by  its  sudden  spreading  like  wildfire  over  the 
entire  country.  I  remember  it  well  because  just  at  that 
time,  while  an  active  pastor,  feeling  deeply  the  need  of  a 
change,  I  prepared  a  semi-graded  course  on  the  Gospel  in 


140  THE   FRONT   LINE 

the  Old  Testament.  Early  in  the  first  year  of  the  actual 
use  of  the  International  system,  I  presented  my  manu- 
script to  the  publishers,  and  they  all  refused  even  to  look 
at  it,  because,  as  they  said,  nothing  was  selling  except  the 
International  helps. 

That  system  created  a  new  era  in  the  Sunday  School 
w^orld.  It  is  hard  for  one  to  realize  the  greatness  of  the 
change,  who  has  not  worked  under  the  older  plan  ;  and  as 
a  burnt  child  dreads  the  fire,  so  such  a  one  dreads  the 
modern  tendency  toward  a  similar  chaos. 

The  International  system  has  been  under  the  fire  of 
criticism  from  the  beginning.  Most  of  the  earlier  criti- 
cisms have  passed  away,  partly  because  of  their  nature, 
and  partly  because  they  had  accomplished  their  mission  of 
improving  the  system.  None  of  them  were  embodied,  to 
any  extent,  in  working  forms. 

Within  a  few  years  a  new  series  of  criticisms  has  arisen, 
partly  from  the  success  of  the  prevailing  system  in  uplift- 
ing the  whole  Sunday  School  movement,  so  that  its  very 
atmosphere  has  changed  as  from  April  to  June;  and 
partly  because  of  the  marvellous  development  of  the 
sciences  on  which  both  Bible  study  and  the  art  of  teaching 
depend.  The  whole  educational  world  has  received  new 
light  from  both  science  and  experience. 

These  criticisms  have  taken  form  in  new  courses  of 
study  of  various  kinds,  some  of  them  still  in  the  theoretical 
stage,  and  some  tested  by  actual  use. 

The  Bible  Study  Union  Graded  Lesson  system,  the 
earliest  and  the  most  widely  extended  of  all  these  systems, 
was  conceived  and  has  been  built  up  by  my  neighbor  and 
friend  Rev.  Erastus  Blakeslee.  By  his  teaching  genius, 
his  intense  energy,  and  the  organizing  skill  through  which 


A   STUDY  IN   GRADING  141 

he  won  his  spurs  in  the  army  and  the  military  title  of 
General,  he  organized  success  for  his  new  scheme,  which 
is  now  so  well  known. 

The  Lutheran  General  Council  have  issued  an  interest- 
ing series  of  graded  lessons  in  the  form  of  bound  books, 
one  for  each  grade  (published  also  in  quarterly  form),  — 
Pictureland^  Workland^  Bible  Story^  Bible  History^  Bible 
G-eograpliy^  Bible  Biography^  Bible  Teachings^  and  Bible 
Literature.  "  The  General  Council  Graded  System  for 
Sunday  and  Church  schools  covers  all  ages  of  Biblical  in- 
struction in  simple  and  definite  stages  from  the  Kinder- 
garten to  the  College,  from  the  Infant  school  to  the  Bible 
class,  with  full  text-books  and  apparatus,  each  a  complete 
unit  in  itself." 

"The  Young  Churchman  Co.,  Milwaukee,  publishes  a 
series  of  a  dozen  or  more  graded  courses  which  are  com- 
ing into  general  use  in  Episcopal  schools." 

Beyond  these  I  know  of  no  complete  series  of  graded 
lessons  (aside  from  the  International)  that  have  been 
tested  in  any  large  number  of  schools;  and  these  have 
been  subjected  to  severe  criticism,  in  proportion  to  the 
time  they  have  been  used.  It  makes  a  great  difference 
whether  a  system  is  in  the  theoretical  stage  or  in  the 
working  stage.  "  It  is  a  useful  experience  to  change  from 
the  position  of  the  criticiser  to  that  of  the  criticised." 

Besides  these  a  considerable  number  of  Sunday  Schools 
are  making  their  own  courses.  "  The  lesson  woods  are 
full  of  new  sprouts  of  this  kind,  some  of  which  may  yet, 
by  careful  and  assiduous  cultivation,  branch  out  in  great 
breadth  and  power."  —  Dr.  Blackall. 

Quite  a  large  number  of  theoretical  courses  have  been 
prepared  and  published. 


142  THE    FKONT    LINE 

And  lastly  there  are  partial  courses,  chiefly  for  the 
Primary  or  adult  departments. 

The  Chicago  University  Press  is  preparing  a  graded 
course  of  Constructive  Bible  Studies,  of  which  some  of  the 
books  for  the  Academy  and  College  and  Universities  are 
published,  and  also  a  very  interesting  volume  for  the  Ele- 
mentary grades  by  Miss  Georgia  Louise  Chamberlin,  who 
has  a  very  successful  children's  department  in  the  Hyde 
Park  Baptist  Sunday  School  of  which  President  Harper 
is  superintendent. 

The  International  Committee  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  has  three  courses  ;  the  United  Society  of 
Christian  Endeavor  has  a  course  ;  Christian  Nurture^  New 
Haven,  Connecticut,  has  four  courses ;  The  Rainbow  Pub- 
lishing Co.,  Manchester,  New  Hampshire,  has  six  courses; 
Bihle  Studies^  Elyria,  Ohio,  has  three  or  four  courses. 

The  American  Institute  of  Sacred  Literature,  Chicago, 
and  the  Moody  Bible  Institute  of  Chicago,  each  have  a 
number  of  correspondence  courses  for  non-residents. 

The  Good  in  these  Systems.  —  1.  They  have  great  virtues 
in  themselves.  They  mark  a  real  and  strong  movement 
of  progress  toward  better  Sunday  School  work. 

2.  They  do  a  still  greater  good  in  pioneering  improve- 
ments in  the  International  Lesson  System,  used  by  nearly 
thirteen  millions  of  people  in  this  country  and  about  half 
as  many  more  in  other  lands. 

During  the  late  war  in  South  Africa  the  eight-year-old 
grandson  of  Hon.  John  W.  Foster,  ex-Secretary  of  State, 
wrote  a  little  book  on  the  Boer  War,  the  sale  of  which 
added  several  hundred  dollars  to  the  relief  fund.  One  of 
the  brightest  things  in  this  bright  book  is  the  story  of 
some  soldiers  practising  gunnery,  and  using  for  their  mark 


A   STUDY   IN   GRADING  143 

a  flock  of  ten  goats  in  a  distant  field.  When  they  had 
fired  twenty  sliots  tliey  went  to  see  tlie  results  of  their 
marksmanship,  and  found  that  there  were  eleven  goats 
instead  of  ten  ;  07ie  had  been  horn  during  the  firing. 

A  similar  result  has  followed  the  practice  firing  of  criti- 
cism, both  by  speech  and  by  example,  upon  the  International 
Lesson  System.     It  has  more  virtues  than  it  had  before. 

As  in  the  day  school  about  95  per  cent  of  new  edu- 
cational experiments  fail  to  establish  themselves,^  so 
a  certain  number,  but  much  smaller,  of  these  Sunday 
School  experiments  will  prove  fruitless.  But  the  large 
valuable  remainder  will  do  a  considerable  part  of  its  work 
in  improving  the  system  now  in  largest  use,  and  the  best 
in  them  will  be  absorbed  in  it. 

In  official  document  No.  2,  containing  the  programme 
of  the  first  Religious  Association  convention,  is  this  state- 
ment :  "  The  Sunday  School  situation  is  at  present  this  : 
The  mass  of  the  schools  are  moving  along  on  the  lines 
which  the  International  Association  has  developed,  and 
are  not  ready  to  conform  themselves  at  once  to  a  higher 
ideal  of  substance  and  method  in  religious  and  moral 
instruction  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  about  25  per 
cent  of  the  Sunday  Schools  of  the  country  are  seeking 
to  adjust  their  work  to  this  higher  ideal  by  securing  a 
better  substance  of  instruction  in  accord  with  modern 
knowledge,  and  by  using  lessons  constructed  on  modern 
educational  principles."  This  has  frequently  been  re- 
peated. 

I  protest  against  that  line  of  cleavage  in  the  Sunday 
Schools  as  not  in  accordance  with  fact.     It  is  impossible 

1  United  States  Commissioner  W.  T.  Harris,  iu  Search's  Ideal  School. 
See  also  Chap.  I  of  this  volume. 


144  THE  FRONT  LINE 

for  me  to  know  what  percentage  of  the  schools  are  or  are 
not  seeking  a  higher  ideal  of  religious  and  moral  instruc- 
tion. But  so  far  as  my  acquaintance  extends,  and  so  far 
as  I  can  read  the  signs  of  the  times,  the  great  majority, 
especially  of  the  leaders,  are  not  "unready  to  conform 
themselves  to  a  higher  ideal,"  but  are  continually  seeking 
the  higher  ideal  of  instruction  in  accordance  with  modern 
knowledge  and  modern  educational  principles. 

The  real  line  of  cleavage  is  between  those  who  believe 
the  highest  ideals  can  best  be  attained  by  the  present 
modified  International  Lessons,  and  those  who  believe  that 
they  can  be  attained  only  by  a  different  system  of  graded 
lessons. 

The  defect  of  these  new  systems  is  that  they  lay  too 
large  a  proportion  of  emphasis  on  some  of  the  needs  of 
the  Sunday  School,  and  neglect  some  others  that  are 
necessary  for  its  best  results.  It  is  like  the  present  ten- 
dency of  florists  to  develop  the  most  exquisite  beauty  in 
roses  at  the  expense  of  the  old-time  fragrance.  Illustra- 
tions of  this  tendency  are  found  in  life,  in  business,  in 
school  and  college  curricula,  in  reforms  of  every  kind. 

The  Front  Line  System,  the  ideal  that  is  largely  becom- 
ing real,  combines  the  good  in  both.  There  is  as  real 
scientific  pedagogy  in  the  prevailing  system  as  in  the  new 
one.     And  any  new  system  that  cannot  say 

"  All  the  good  the  Old  Time  had 
Remains  to  make  the  New  Time  glad." 

cannot  have  general  success,  and  does  not  deserve  to 
have  it. 

Criticisms  of  the  International  System.  —  For  many  years 
I  have  kept  a  file  of  the  criticisms  on  the  International 


A   STUDY   IN   GRADING  145 

Lessons,  as  well  as  on  Bible  study  in  general,  in  order  to 
see  the  subject  from  every  point  of  view,  and  to  discover 
the  needs  and  the  directions  of  real  improvement. 

Here  are  some  specimens.  ''This  plan  of  study  has 
been  deliberately  stigmatized  —  stigmatized  by  prominent 
religious  editors  and  by  eminent  clergymen  and  laymen 
—  as  '  scrappy,'  as  '  hash,'  as  a  '  hop,  skip,  and  jump  series,' 
as  a  'sparrow  plan,'  'a  grasshopper  plan,'  'a  kangaroo 
plan.'" 

"The  International  Lesson  System,  consisting  of  seven 
or  eight  verses  selected  disconnectedly  here  and  there  in 
the  Bible." 

"The  pestiferous  practice  in  the  Sunday  School  series 
of  jumping  all  about  from  Galilee  to  Gibeon." 

"  Disconnected  hodge-podge  of  facts  and  principles  un- 
worthy the  name  of  Biblical  learning."  "Not  orderly  or 
connected  in  such  a  way  as  to  afford  a  comprehensive  and 
intelligible  view  of  the  Bible." 

"  Out  of  harmony  with  the  principles  of  modern  educa- 
tion." 

It  "  pays  little  or  no  regard  to  fundamental  and  well- 
known  pedagogical  principles  applied  in  all  modern  public 
instruction." 

"Beginning  anywhere  and  ending  nowhere." 

"The  system  is  ungraded."  "The  distinctions  of  age 
and  capacity  in  the  scholars  are  not  recognized  in  the 
present  system.  The  same  lesson  is  intended  for  infant, 
youth,  and  adult.  This  does  violence  to  the  law  of  natural 
progress  and  development." 

One  of  its  "  most  fatal  defects  ...  is  the  fact  that  it  is 
framed,  prepared,  worked  out,  built  up  from  the  adult 
point  of  view  almost  entirely,  if  not  entirely. ^^ 


146  THE   FRONT   LINE 

It  "  tends  to  limit  the  pupil's  knowledge  of  the  Bible  by 
inviting  a  dependence  upon  the  helps  that  accompany  the 
lessons,  and  causing  a  neglect  of  Bible  study." 

"  There  are  too  many  helps,"  and  they  are  too  good,  for 
"not  a  single  line  is  left  uncovered  (except,  as  another 
remarks,  the  difficult  points  which  are  passed  by  on  the 
other  side,  as  the  man  on  the  Jericho  road  by  the  Levite), 
nothing  remains  for  individual  research  and  study.  It  is 
simply  a  cramming  process  that  dwarfs  the  mind  and 
destroys  the  power  of  mental  application." 

By  this  system  the  Bible  "  has  now  been  travelled  over 
again,  and  again  and  again,  through  thirty  years,  until  no 
nook  or  corner  has  been  left  unexplored." 

"  The  old  system  is,  in  general,  homiletic,  and  the  new, 
educational.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  one  is  exclu- 
sively homiletic  and  the  other  exclusively  educational, 
for  both  are  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  homiletic,  and 
both  are  more  or  less  educational.  What  it  does  mean 
is,  that  the  one  depends  chiefly  on  homiletic  methods 
to  accomplish  its  purpose,  and  the  other  on  educational 
methods." 

"  It  has  been  used  chiefly  for  devotional  and  hortatory 
purposes." 

'*  Under  such  a  system,  progress  in  education  is  impos- 
sible—  indeed,  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  it  is  not 
even  sought."  The  pupil  after  ten  years  of  this  system 
"  knows  very  little  about  the  Bible ;  its  history  and  chro- 
nology, and  the  spiritual  development  of  the  people  whose 
history  it  narrates,  have  not  been,  could  not  have  been 
under  the  system,  made  intelligible." 

"  We  are  all  feeling  how  antiquated,  uninteresting,  and 
ineffective  present  Sunday  School  instruction  is." 


A   STUDY   IN   GRADING  147 

We  stand  in  the  presence  of  this  word-picture  by  a  com- 
posite artist  of  high  degree  and  dignity,  supposed  to  know, 
and  wonder  where,  in  the  present  time,  we  can  find  the 
original.     He  must  have  been  dead  these  many  years. 

I  have  taken  my  Diogenes  lantern  and  have  found  im- 
perfect systems  and  growing  systems,  but  no  system  to 
which  the  above  description  belongs. 

One  morning  years  ago  at  Chautauqua,  1  heard  an  aged 
and  learned  Methodist  minister,  "  who  had  a  brilliant 
future  behind  him,"  discourse  on  Calvin  and  Calvinism. 
It  was  a  fearful  picture.  The  next  morning  Dr.  Hodge 
of  Princeton,  who  spells  Calvinism  with  a  very  large  C, 
began  his  lecture  by  saying,  "  If  what  the  speaker  yester- 
day described  as  Calvinism  is  Calvinism,  then  I  am  not 
a  Calvinist."  So  I  am  inclined  to  say  that  if  what  has 
been  repeated  many  times  of  late  as  a  characterization  of 
the  International  Lesson  system  is  a  true  picture,  then  I 
have  not  been  teaching  the  International  Lessons  these 
past  years. 

I  never  hear  such  statements  about  the  International 
Lessons  without  recalling  a  story  I  once  heard.  A  gen- 
tleman had  the  cheerful  custom  of  saying  about  whatever 
happened  to  him,  "It  might  have  been  worse."  He  lost 
his  property  ;  "  It  might  have  been  worse."  He  was  sick, 
he  lost  friends,  he  was  disappointed  in  business,  and  always, 
"It  might  have  been  worse." 

At  length  a  friend  thought  he  would  make  up  a  case 
where  this  favorite  saying  would  be  impossible.  "I 
dreamed  last  night,"  he  said,  "that  you  and  I  and  our 
entire  families  were  out  in  a  yacht  when  a  cyclone  struck 
us,  and  every  one  of  us  were  drowned  and  went  to  eternal 


148  THE   FRONT    LINE 

Still  the  response  was,  *'  It  might  have  been  worse. '^ 

''  Worse  !  really  worse  I !  " 

"Yes.     It  might  have  been  true,'^ 

The  International  Lesson  System.  —  It  is  necessary  first 
to  possess  a  clear  idea  of  what  the  International  Lesson 
System  is  to-day ;  not  as  it  was  once,  not  as  a  mere 
theory,  but  as  it  is  actually  doing  its  work  in  the  best 
present  day  Sunday  Schools. 

No  brief  sentence  can  set  it  out  fully,  without  certain 
explanations  such  as  are  given  below.  For  instance,  the 
word  "  uniform  "  has  misled  many  because  they  have  ap- 
plied it  to  the  lessons  taught,  and  not  to  the  Scripture 
selections  where  it  belonged. 

The  International  Lesson  System  is  a  system  of  uniform 
central  selections  of  Scripture  for  the  whole  school^  with 
optional  or  elective  lessons  at  both  ends. 

It  may  be  represented  thus :  — 

Uniform  central  selections  for  the  whole  school. 

c^ =1 

Optional  Primary  Lessons.  Elective  courses  for  special 

adult  classes. 

The  phrase  central  selections  is  used  because  for  many 
years  the  International  Committee  have  plainly  designated 
as  part  of  each  lesson  a  longer  section  of  the  Bible  than  the 
verses  selected  for  printing  and  for  more  detailed  study. 

The  Optional  Lessons  for  the  younger  scholars  at  the 
beginning  of  the  course  have  been  endorsed  and  selected 
by  the  Committee  for  several  years  ;  but  have  been  in  use 
much  longer  by  many  schools,  and  have  been  practically 
a  part  of  the  system  for  a  long  time. 

But  wise  parents,  with  children  of  different  ages  in  the 


A   STUDY   IN   GRADING  149 

Sunday  School,  have  frequently  felt  that  the  disadvantages 
of  some  lessons  less  adapted  to  the  youngest  children  were 
a  far  less  evil  than  the  separation  of  the  younger  members 
from  the  family  Bible  study,  and  its  educational  atmosphere. 

The  elective  courses  at  the  adult  end  of  the  system  have 
long  been  in  use  in  connection  with  the  International 
Lessons.  The  Editors'  Association  and  the  International 
Lesson  Committee  are  unanimously  in  favor  of  them. 
The  Committee  were  unanimous  several  years  ago,  so 
were  most  of  the  editors.  It  is  not  wise  to  explain  here 
why  the  Editors'  Association  at  Clifton  in  1903  did  not 
vote  on  the  question,  and  so  were  represented  to  the  pub- 
lic as  opposed.  But  that  a  great  majority  of  them  were 
then  in  favor  of  it  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  at  the  next 
meeting  at  Richmond  there  was  not  a  dissenting  voice. 
Toronto  in  1905  will  interpret  Denver,  with  a  different 
result  from  the  interpretation  of  its  action  by  many  at  the 
time  of  its  meeting. 

Several  denominations,  believing  in  the  International 
Lesson  System,  have  also  published  elective  courses  for 
adult  classes. 

I  have  no  question  that  it  is  better  every  way  for  the 
majority  of  adults  to  use  the  regular  lessons  of  the  rest  of 
the  school.  Yet  there  is  a  continual  need  and  call  for 
special  classes  for  the  study  of  the  Bible  in  other  ways, 
and  to  take  up  practical  religious  questions.  Some  make 
a  study  of  individual  books  of  the  Bible,  of  the  historic 
method,  doctrines  of  the  church.  Christian  ethics,  church 
history  in  the  light  of  the  Bible.  In  most  of  our  large 
schools  such  classes  are  formed.  It  is  said  that  49  per 
cent  of  the  pastor's  classes  among  the  Congregationalists 
take  some  such  courses. 


150  THE   FRONT   LINE 

These  classes  are  so  various,  their  needs  and  desires  are 
so  manifold,  that  it  may  be  wise  to  let  the  private  experi- 
mentation go  on  a  little  longer,  though  there  is  no  body 
of  men  in  the  country  better  fitted  to  prepare  such  courses 
than  the  select  company  of  choice  Sunday  School  men 
who  compose  the  International  Lesson  Committee. 

This  plan  of  elective  courses  for  adults  leaves  the  com- 
mittee free  to  confine  themselves  to  the  general  movement 
of  Bible  history  which  is  adapted  to  all  ages  above  the 
early  primary,  and  to  the  great  majority  of  the  busy  men 
and  women  of  our  committees  in  city  or  in  country. 

The  International  Lessons  are  graded  in  material  as  well 
as  in  treatment. 

The  most  urgent  educational  indictment  of  this  system 
is  what  is  called  its  failure  to  grade  the  material  of  the 
lessons  to  the  different  stages  of  the  child's  development. 

The  phrase  "  uniform  selections  "  has  been  confounded 
with  "uniform  material." 

That  different  material  is  found  in  the  same  passage  is 
plain  from  the  selections  made  in  systems  claimed  to  be 
peculiarly  pedagogical.  All  but  one  of  the  professors  of 
pedagogy  I  have  met  say  that  different  material  is  found 
in  the  same  passages. 

The  wider  sections  connected  with  the  special  selections 
(as  arranged  by  the  committee)  enable  us  to  find  different 
material  for  different  ages  in  the  same  section  of  Bible 
history.  For  instance,  when  we  had  printed  a  few  verses 
from  Amos,  those  who  studied  only  those  verses  had  reason 
to  complain  of  their  difficulty  in  teaching,  but  those  who 
took  the  book  of  Amos,  as  was  designed^  found  a  story  that 
would  fire  the  enthusiasm  of  any  junior  boy.  "^ 

In  my  mountain  home  not  long  ago  I  met  four  men  from 


A   STUDY   IN    GKADING  151 

the  forestry  department  of  the  government,  and  each  one 
found  entirely  different  material  in  the  same  forest.  One 
learned  who  owned  each  parcel,  and  went  his  way ;  another 
learned  the  various  kinds  of  wood  that  made  up  the  forest ; 
another  measured  the  trees  and  found  the  commercial  value 
of  the  forest;  and  the  fourth  studied  the  botany  of  the  forest. 

When  there  is  a  comparison  made  with  day  school  grad- 
ing there  is  usually  the  error  of  not  distinguishing  between 
the  different  kinds  of  study  in  the  different  kinds  of  school. 
We  are  asked,  "  What  would  be  said  of  the  argument  that, 
because  it  is  possible  to  teach  something  about  geometry 
to  any  pupil  from  five  to  twenty  years  of  age,  therefore 
geometry  ought  to  be  made  in  a  given  year  or  term  the 
subject  of  study  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  our  public 
school  system  ?  "  I  should  say  that  to  apply  such  an  argu- 
ment to  the  International  Lesson  study  of  the  Bible  was 
neither  logic,  nor  pedagogy,  nor  science,  nor  fact.  Pro- 
fessor Winchester  is  right  when  he  says  that  most  of  the 
best  literature  in  the  world  is  not  beyond  the  apprehension 
of  a  boy  in  his  "  teens."  "  He  may  not  fully  comprehend 
it.  .  .  .  As  a  rule,  all  the  great  epic  writing,  the  litera- 
ture of  great  action,  based  on  broad  and  obvious  motive, 
appeals  to  sympathies  that  are  strong  at  an  early  age.''^ 
I  have  seen  the  truth  illustrated  over  and  over  again 
among  children. 

So  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  says  :  ''  You  talk  about  read- 
ing Shakespeare,  using  him  as  an  expression  for  the  high- 
est intellect,  and  you  wonder  that  any  common  person 
should  be  so  presumptuous  as  to  suppose  his  thought  can 
rise  above  the  text  which  lies  before  him.  But  think  a 
moment.  A  child's  reading  of  Shakespeare  is  one  thing, 
1  Address  at  the  Religious  Education  Association  meeting  at  Philadelphia. 


152  THE   FKONT   LINE 

and  Coleridge's  or  Schlegel's  reading  of  him  is  another. 
The  saturation  point  of  each  mind  differs  from  that  of 
every  other.  "^ 

The  Bible  is  literature,  and  history,  and  story,  and 
biography,  and  the  kind  of  grading  for  these  studies  is 
entirely  different  from  the  grading  for  mathematics  or 
languages. 

Moreover,  there  are  no  day  schools  beyond  the  Kinder- 
garten age  where  nothing  is  taught  but  stories  for  one 
age,  and  history  for  another,  and  biography  for  another. 
And  there  are  no  boys  and  girls  existing  for  whom  these 
alone  are  the  best  or  most  natural  material  for  their  entire 
studies. 

Again,  it  is  simply  a  fact  that  there  are  many  schools 
really  graded  in  the  International  Lessons  according  to 
material  as  well  as  treatment.  This  grading  has  been 
becoming  more  and  more  perfect  through  the  discus- 
sions that  have  been  going  on,  and  the  examples  set, 
and  the  scientific  study  of  the  child  and  of  the  art  of 
teaching. 

There  are  still  imperfections  in  details,  perhaps  some  of 
them  necessary,  but  these  are  far  more  than  overbalanced 
by  the  advantages  of  the  general  system. 

Again,  the  International  Lessons  are  an  orderly,  connected 
scheme  of  lessons.  Through  each  Testament  it  moves  con- 
secutively according  to  the  order  of  the  history  as  given 
in  the  Bible,  with  the  Prophets  and  Epistles  set  in  their 
places  in  the  history. 

The  movement  does  not,  and  never  did,  consist  of  seven 
or  eight  verses  selected  disconnectedly  here  and  there  in 
the  Bible,  but  sections  of  the  history  joined  in  consecutive 
1  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table,  p.  133. 


A  STUDY   IN   GRADING  153 

order,  just  as  one  travels  through  a  country,  not  by  stop- 
ping at  every  interesting  village,  but  by  making  great  cities 
and  noble  natural  scenes  the  centres  of  a  whole  region. 
Thus  it  moves  through  the  Bible  once  in  six  years.  This 
method  gives  a  better  general  knowledge  of  the  Bible  than 
any  other  scheme  yet  presented.  It  is  more  connected 
and  less  "hop,  skip,  and  jump"  than  other  schemes. 

It  is  a  very  curious  objection  that  the  International 
Lessons  have  been  going  over  the  Bible  every  six  or  seven 
years  for  thirty  years.  How  else  can  the  young  get  a 
full  knowledge  of  the  Bible  at  all?  I  pity  the  Christian 
that  does  not  read  his  Bible  through  as  often  as  once 
in  six  years.  And  as  to  its  being  monotonous,  those 
of  us  who  have  gone  over  it  many  times  find  it  more 
radiant  each  time,  revealing  new  aspects,  setting  out  the 
truths  in  fuller  light,  — the  last  time  far  better  than 
the  first. 

The  Advantages  of  the  International  System. —  Pro- 
fessor Sanders  in  his  president's  address  before  the  Reli- 
gious Education  Association,  and  Professors  Burton  and 
Mathews  in  Principles  and  Ideals  for  the  Sunday  School, 
have  very  frankly  and  fairly  stated  these  advantages. 
But  I  wish  to  recall,  to  emphasize,  and  to  add  to  their 
presentation. 

1.  Nearly  all  the  advantages  claimed  for  other  systems 
are  equally  adapted  to  the  International  system.  I  have 
before  me  a  small  volume  presenting  a  new  graded  system 
and  a  pamphlet  presenting  the  most  popular  of  the  sys- 
tems which  claim  to  be  graded  according  to  pedagogical 
principles,  and  there  is  scarcely  one  of  their  principles 
which  cannot  be  adapted  to  the  uniform  system  as  de- 
scribed above. 


154  THE   FKONT   LINE 

The  International  system  is  a  flexible  system  and  a  live 
system,  and  in  its  desire  to  grow  into  ''the  stature  of  a 
perfect  man  in  Christ  Jesus,"  absorbs  good  from  every 
source.  "Whatever  lion  eats  becomes  lion."  Epictetus 
says  that  sheep  eat  grass,  but  it  is  wool  that  grows  on 
their  backs.  I  am  delighted  to  acknowledge  my  personal 
indebtedness  to  other  systems. 

It  is  easy  to  prove  the  superiority  of  one  system  by 
comparing  its  possibilities  with  what  is  actually  put  in 
practice  by  another,  or  the  best  use  of  one  by  the  worst 
use  of  another.  But  time  and  use  decide  in  the  end. 
Most  methods  can  be  adapted  to  any  scheme  of  lessons. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  seven  "  next  steps  forward " 
named  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Religious  Education 
Association  (see  p.  183) ;  and  "  the  Characteristics  of  the 
Best  Lesson  Systems,"  from  Dr.  Smith's  book  :  — 

(a)  Subject- G-raded,  i.e.  the  Right  Subject  at  the  right 
stage  of  the  child's  Mental  Development. 

(5)  Source  or  Heuristic  Method.  Actual,  tangible  use 
of  Bible,  Prayer  Book,  History,  etc.,  as  the  Source  of 
Knowledge. 

(c)  Wintten  Home  Work  and  Home  Study. 

(d)  New  Material  in  Class  Work  and  New  Foints-of- 
View  in  Reviewing  Home   Work. 

(^)  An  Intimate  Knowledge  of  Bible  G-eograpTiy. 
(Physical  and  Historical.) 

(/)  Abundant  Use  of  Pictures  and  Religious  Art. 

{g)  Use  of  "  Means  of  Expression. "  Hand  Work,  Maps, 
Modelling,  Written  Work,  Picture  Scrap  Books,  Model- 
Making,  etc. 

(A)  Wise  Correlation  with  Secular  Subjects  and  Day 
School  Knowledge. 


A   STUDY   IN    GRADING  155 

(i)  Thoroughly  Churchly  and  Doctriiially  sound  and 
definite. 

2.  The  International  system  beyond  all  others  favors 
Bible  study  in  the  home.  The  lessons  and  daily  readings 
are  used  at  family  prayers.  The  parents  are  prepared  to 
answer  questions  of  children  in  different  grades.  The 
subjects  and  characters  are  discussed  together,  instead  of 
mothers  having  to  study  several  different  lessons  as  I 
know  mothers  to  do. 

3.  No  other  system  gives  such  unity  to  the  school  it- 
self,—  in  its  devotional  atmosphere,  in  its  reviews,  in  its 
general  exercises,  in  its  use  of  pictures,  stereopticons,  in 
obtaining  prepared  teachers  in  emergencies. 

4.  Under  no  other  system  can  so  much  be  done  for 
training  and  preparing  teachers,  by  teachers'  meetings  for 
the  school,  by  union  teachers'  classes  for  a  whole  town  or 
city,  under  the  most  expert  teachers,  by  a  comparison  of 
views  as  teachers  meet  incidentally,  by  public  lectures  and 
normal  classes  under  expert  Bible  scholars  and  teachers, 
which  can  be  immediately  put  into  practice. 

5.  Under  no  other  system  is  it  possible  to  have  so 
much  of  the  power  which  comes  from  a  magnificent  unity 
and  concentration  of  religious  forces,  uniting  nearly  all 
denominations,  impressing  the  whole  community  with  its 
power,  interacting  for  mutual  improvement.  Rev.  Dr. 
William  Walter  Smith,  Secretary  of  the  Sunday  School 
Commission,  Diocese  of  New  York,  writes  thus  in  his 
excellent  book  on  Sunday  School  Teaching :  — 

"  There  are  over  two  hundred  various  Text  Books  and 
Systems  now  being  used  in  the  Episcopal  Church  alone. 
There  are  forty  in  one  Diocese.  There  is  no  likelihood 
that  a  child  going  from  one  School  to  another  will  have  a 


156  THE   FRONT   LINE 

similar  system  or  grading.  Every  change  of  Assistant 
Minister  or  of  Superintendents  means  a  new  experimenta- 
tion in  lessons.  Confusion  and  despair  reign  supreme  in 
the  Sunday  School  world.  'This  ought  not  so  to  be.'  No 
local  movements  for  Sunday  School  Betterment  can  accom- 
plish much  without  cooperation,  federation,  and  extra- 
parochial  interest." 

This  is  equally  true  of  the  Sunday  School  world  as  a 
whole.  The  power  of  this  unity  is  nobly  illustrated  by 
the  Christian  Endeavor  movement,  which  has  multiplied 
the  power  and  usefulness  of  the  young  people's  meetings 
and  work  a  hundredfold  over  the  old  plan  of  separate 
independent  meetings  in  each  church,  insomuch  that  it 
has  distinctly  changed  the  religious  atmosphere  of  the 
whole  country. 

6.  No  other  system  can  provide  such  good  helps  for 
the  teacher  and  the  scholar.  The  great  number  of  per- 
sons employed  brings  out  the  best  by  natural  selection. 
The  greatness  of  the  competition  urges  every  one  inter- 
ested to  do  his  very  best,  lest  he  be  left  behind  in  the 
race.  The  immense  number  of  helps  published  reduces 
the  price  to  the  very  lowest  terms.  "The  good"  may 
sometimes  be  "  the  enemy  of  the  best,"  but  more  often  it 
is  the  means  of  making  the  best  better. 

It  is  said  that  there  are  too  many  helps,  just  as  there 
are  too  many  books.  But  there  are  seventeen  millions  of 
people  to  use  them.  No  one  need  use  any  more  of  them 
than  he  desires ;  and  he  gains  the  opportunity  of  select- 
ing the  ones  he  can  use  to  most  advantage. 

The  helps  in  no  way  prevent  research,  but  are  a  con- 
tinual inspiration  to  further  research.  Leigh  Hunt  named 
one  of  his  books  The  Indicator^  from  the  bird  which  indi- 


A   STUDY   IN    GRADING  157 

cates  to  the  honey-hunters  where  the  bees  have  laid  up 
their  treasures.  The  lesson  helps  are  indicators  pointing 
out  the  treasures  in  God's  Word,  sweeter  than  honey  and 
richer  than  fine  gold. 

There  are  very  few  teachers  who  can  possess  all  the 
needful  books  for  complete  research  on  the  whole  Bible, 
and  fewer  still  have  time  to  use  them  to  advantage. 
They  no  more  "cram"  than  all  books,  sermons,  or  lec- 
tures cram.  A  reviewer  in  a  late  Outlook  truly  says,  "A 
good  illustration  borrowed  is  better  than  a  poor  illustra- 
tion which  is,  or  is  thought  to  be,  original."  For  the 
great  majority  of  teachers  the  choice  lies  between  poor 
teaching  with  imperfect  or  meagre  helps  and  good  teach- 
ing with  the  best  and  most  suggestive  helps  available. 
For  good  helps  are  not  a  well,  but  a  fountain;  and  not 
merely  a  fountain,  but  one  like  that  of  the  Oriental  legend, 
each  drop  from  which  opened  a  new  fountain  from  the 
sands  on  which  it  fell. 

Thus  the  true  use  of  helps  is  :  — 
To  furnish  the  facts. 
To  teach  them  correctly. 
To  show  them  from  all  sides. 

To  enable  us  to  digest  them  and  make  them  our  own. 
To  awaken  thought. 
To  suggest  new  truths. 
To  suggest  new  applications  of  old  truths. 
To  suggest  methods  of  teaching. 
To  give  inspiration  and  interest  in  the  subject. 

7.  In  conclusion,  no  system  has  yet  exhausted  its  possi- 
bilities. I  rejoice  with  all  my  heart  in  the  new  awakening 
and  in  all  that  is  being  done  in  every  direction.     Which- 


158  THE   FRONT   LINE 

ever  one  succeeds  best  will  embody  the  most  of  the  princi- 
ples which  are  necessary  to  the  best  Sunday  School  work. 

No  system  can  work  the  miracle  of  the  religious  educa- 
tion of  the  young  through  sessions  of  one  hour  a  week. 
The  Sunday  School  must  be  supplemented  by  pastors' 
classes  and  normal  classes  at  other  times  and  by  supple- 
mental lessons  and  longer  study  hours. 

But  the  best  way  toward  improvement  is  through  put- 
ting the  various  theories  into  practice,  and  determining 
what  is  really  best  by  actual  experiment.  In  the  words 
of  Rev.  John  L.  Keedy,  in  the  July  Biblical  World:  "For 
myself,  I  do  not  believe  that  any  curriculum,  however 
well  graded,  or  any  courses  of  study,  however  well  pre- 
pared, by  any  group  of  men  with  a  scholarly  knowledge 
of  the  Bible  and  with  a  theoretical  knowledge  of  our 
Sunday  Schools,  will  meet  the  needs  as  well  as  those 
which  are  the  outgrowth  of  experiment  and  experience. 
While  I  am  sure  a  graded  course  well  chosen  and  well 
wrought  out  would  meet  a  real  need  and  be  a  great  gain, 
yet  I  am  quite  as  certain  that  nothing  can  so  surely  solve 
the  problem  as  an  interested  and  competent  teacher  who 
works  out  his  own  course  and  communicates  his  own  in- 
terested and  eager  spirit  to  his  pupils.  If  by  all  of  our 
addresses  and  discussions  and  committees  and  inquiries 
we  disseminate  knowledge  about  material  and  method, 
and  impart  the  spirit  of  eagerness  to  superintendents  and 
teachers,  we  have  furnished  that  which  the  Sunday  School 
situation  most  needs." 


VII 


SUNDAY  SCHOOL  IGNORANCE  OF  THE  BIBLE,  AND  ITS 

REMEDY 

That  there  is  a  most  lamentable  ignorance  of  many- 
things  in  the  Bible  on  the  part  of  many  of  the  children 
and  youth  of  to-day,  as  well  as  of  their  elders,  is  frequently 
stated  by  persons  who  ought  to  know  what  the  facts  are. 
Says  the  Journal  and  Messenger^  '*  It  comes  from  various 
sources  that  the  boys  and  girls  of  to-day  are  amazingly 
ignorant  of  the  Bible."  Rev.  J.  T.  Briscoe  began  an 
address  at  a  Sunday  School  convention  in  England  thus  : 
"  The  Sunday  School  system  to-day  is  crucified  between 
two  thieves  —  sacerdotalism  on  the  one  hand,  and  secular- 
ism on  the  other,  and  of  the  two  the  sacerdotalist  is 
likely  to  prove  the  impenitent  malefactor."  We  all  know 
instances  of  this  Bible  ignorance,  and  deplore  it.  It  is 
exploited  in  many  addresses,  and  many  tests  are  made, 
and  the  sad  results  are  reported  on  the  principle  stated 
by  Mr.  Ruskin  in  his  Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture :  "  There 
is  a  crust  about  the  impressible  part  of  men's  minds 
which  must  be  pierced  through  before  they  can  be  touched 
to  the  quick  ;  and  though  we  may  prick  at  it,  and  scratch 
at  it  in  a  thousand  separate  places,  we  might  as  well  have 
let  it  alone  if  we  do  not  come  through  somewhere  with 
a  deep   thrust ;   ...  it   need    not  be   even   so   wide   as 

159 


160  THE   FRONT  LINE 

a  church  door,  so  that  it  be  enough."  The  facts  reported 
do  make  a  deep  thrust  through  the  crust  of  indifference 
as  to  what  our  children  are  learning  and  gaining  in  the 
Sunday  School,  enough  to  startle  into  wakefulness  "  the 
seven  sleepers  of  Ephesus."  It  is  interesting  and  profit- 
able for  us  to  study  some  of  these  tests,  as  they  not  only 
impress  us  with  the  need  of  removing  the  ignorance,  but 
are  themselves  a  means  for  doing  it. 

President  Thwing,  of  Western  Reserve  University,  at 
the  first  Bible  exercise  of  the  freshman  class  of  1894-1895, 
gave  a  test  to  thirty-four  young  men,  all  but  one  of  whom 
was  connected  with  some  one  of  nine  religious  congrega- 
tions in  the  Central  States.  He  wrote  out  on  the  black- 
board twenty-two  quotations  from  the  writings  of  the 
most  noted  English-speaking  poet  of  the  present  century, 
Alfred  Tennyson,  with  whose  writings  all  educated  persons 
are  more  or  less  familiar.  These  twenty-two  extracts  all 
contained  references  or  allusions  to  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
and  were  as  follows :  — 

"  My  sin  was  a  thorn 
Among  the  thorns  that  girt  Thy  brow." 

—  Supposed  Confessions. 

"  As  manna  on  my  wilderness."  —  Ibid. 

*'  That  God  would  move, 
And  strike  the  hard,  hard  rock,  and  thence, 
Sweet  in  their  utmost  bitterness. 
Would  issue  tears  of  penitence."  —  Ibid. 

"  Like  that  strange  angel  which  of  old. 
Until  the  breaking  of  the  light. 
Wrestled  with  wandering  Israel."  —  To . 

"  Like  Hezekiah's,  backward  runs 
The  shadow  of  my  days." —  Will  Waterproof. 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL   IGNORANCE   OF   THE   BIBLE         161 

"Joshua's  moon  in  Ajalon."  —  Lockdey  Hall. 

"  A  heart  as  rough  as  Esau's  hand." —  Godiva. 

"  Gash  thyself,  priest,  and  honor  thy  brute  Baal."  —  Ayhner's  Field. 

"  Ruth  amid  the  fields  of  corn."  — Ihkl. 

"  Pharaoh's  darkness."  —  Ihid. 

"  A  Jonah's  gourd, 
Up  in  one  night  and  due  to  sudden  sun."  —  The  Princess. 

"  Stiff  as  Lot's  wife."  —  Ihid. 
"  Arimathsean  Joseph." —  The  Holy  Grail. 

"  For  I  have  flung  thee  pearls  and  find  thee  swine." 

—  The  Last  Tournament. 

"  Perhaps,  like  him  of  Cana  in  Holy  Writ, 
Our  Arthur  kept  his  best  until  the  last." —  The  Holy  Grail. 

"  And  marked  me  even  as  Cain."  —  Queen  Mary. 

"The  Church  on  Peter's  rock."  —  Ibid. 

"  Let  her  eat  dust  like  the  serpent,  and  be  driven  out  of  her  Paradise." 

—  Becket. 
"A  whole  Peter's  sheet." — Ibid. 

"  The  godless  Jephtha  vow^s  his  child.  .  .  . 
To  one  cast  of  the  dice."  —  The  Flight. 

"  A  Jacob's  ladder  falls."  —  Early  Spring. 

"Follow  Light  and  do  the  Right  — for  man  can  half  control  his 

doom  — 
Till  you  find  the  deathless  Angel  seated  in  the  vacant  tomb." 

—  Locksley  Hall,  Sixty  Years  After. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  allusions  contained  in  these 
extracts  are  not  at  all  recondite. 


162  THE   FRONT   LINE 

The  President  published  the  record  of  the  answers,  as 

follows  :    Of  the  34  students  9  failed  to  understand  the 

quotation, 

"  My  sin  was  as  a  thorn 

Among  the  thorns  that  girt  Thy  brow." 

11  failed  to  apprehend  the  "manna  on  my  wilderness." 

16  were  likewise  ignorant  of  the  significance  of  "  strik- 
ing the  rock." 

16  also  knew  nothing  about  the  "  wrestling  of  Jacob 
and  the  angel." 

32  had  never  heard  of  "  the  shadow  turning  back  on  the 
dial  for  Hezekiah's  lengthening  life." 

26  were  ignorant  of  "  Joshua's  moon." 

19  failed  to  indicate  "the  peculiar  condition  of  Esau's 
hand." 

22  were  unable  to  explain  "the  allusion  to  Baal." 

19  had  apparently  never  read  "  the  idyl  of  Ruth  and 
Boaz." 

18  failed  to  indicate  the  meaning  of  "  Pharaoh's  dark- 
ness." 

28  were  laid  low  by  the  question  about  "Jonah's 
gourd." 

9,  and  9  only,  were  unable  to  explain  the  allusion  to 
"Lot's  wife." 

23  did  not  understand  who  was  meant  by  "  Arimathsean 
Joseph." 

22  also  had  not  read  the  words  of  Christ  sufficiently 
to  explain  "  For  I  have  flung  thee  pearls  and  find  thee 
swine." 

24  had  apparently  not  so  read  the  account  of  "  Christ's 
first"  miracle  "  as  to  be  able  to  explain  the  reference. 

11  did  not  understand  "the  mark  which  Cain  bore." 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL   IGNORANCE   OF   THE   BIBLE         163 

25  were  as  ignorant  as  a  heathen  of  ^Hhe  foanclation  of 
the  Church  on  Peter." 

12,  and  12  only,  had  not  gathered  up  knowledge  suffi- 
cient to  indicate  certain  truths  about  ''the  serpent  in 
Eden." 

27  were  paralyzed  by  the  allusion,  ''A  whole  Peter's 
sheet." 

24  were  unable  to  write  anything  as  to  "Jephtha's 
vow." 

11  only,  however,  were  struck  dumb  by  the  allusion  to 
"Jacob's  ladder." 

But  16  were  able  to  write  a  proper  explanation  of  "  the 
deathless  angel  seated  in  the  vacant  tomb." 

In  a  word,  to  each  of  these  84  men  22  questions  were  put 
which  would  demand  748  answers.  The  record  shows  that 
out  of  a  possible  748  correct  answers,  only  328  were  given  ; 
not  quite  44  per  cent. 

These  quotations  were  given  to  a  senior  class  of  38 
negro  and  Indian  students  at  Hampton,  Virginia,  none  of 
whom  could  enter  college  without  three  years'  further 
study.  Of  the  836  possible  answers,  645  were  given  cor- 
rectly, or  77  per  cent.  One  student  answered  all  the 
questions;  three,  all  but  one.i 

Dr.  George  A.  Coe,  the  well-known  Professor  of  Phi- 
losophy in  the  Northwestern  University,  in  order  to  test 
the  Bible  knowledge  of  his  students,  seized  the  opportu- 
nity "  to  put  a  few  simple  queries  about  the  Bible  to  nearly 
one  hundred  college  students.  Most  of  these  persons,  no 
doubt,  were  brought  up  in  Christian  homes  and  had  en- 
joyed such  instruction  as  the  average  Sunday  School  or 
pulpit  of  our  day  affords."  The  questions  were :  — 
1  See  Century  Magazine  for  December,  1900. 


164  THE   FRONT    LINE 

1.  What  is  the  Pentateuch? 

2.  What  is  the  Higher  Criticism  of  the  Scriptures? 

3.  Does  the  Book  of  Jude  belong  to  the  Old  Testament 
or  to  the  New? 

4.  Name  one  of  the  Patriarchs  of  the  Old  Testament. 

5.  Name  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Old  Testament. 

6.  Name  three  of  the  Kings  of  Israel. 

7.  Name  three  Prophets. 

8.  Give  one  of  the  Beatitudes. 

9.  Quote  a  verse  from  the  letter  to  the  Romans. 

Ninety-six  papers  were  returned. 

8  answered  correctly  all  12  answered  correctly  4 
13  answered  correctly  8  11  answered  correctly  3 
11  answered  correctly  7  13  answered  correctly  2 

5  answered  correctly  6  11  answered  correctly  1 

9  answered  correctly  5  3  answered  correctly  0 

The  number  out  of  96  giving  the  correct  answer  to  the 
first  question  was  60 ;  to  the  second,  16;  to  the  third,  56; 
to  the  fourth,  61 ;  to  the  fifth,  45 ;  to  the  sixth,  47  ;  to  the 
seventh,  52 ;  to  the  eighth,  76 ;  to  the  ninth,  31. 

As  the  number  of  papers  was  approximately  100,  these 
figures  may  substantially  be  taken  as  percentages.  The 
total  number  of  correct  answers  was  444,  out  of  864,  or 
nearly  52  per  cent,  a  little  more  than  half. 

Dr.  Schauffler  of  New  York  on  reading  this  statement 
was  '•'  filled  with  wonder  at  the  crass  ignorance  of  so  many 
college  students."  It  occurred  to  him  "to  try  the  same 
set  of  questions  in  a  large  young  women's  Bible  class  in 
Olivet  Sunday  School,  the  conditions  of  examination  being 
exactly  the  same  as  those  for  the  Northwestern  University 


SUNDAY  SCHOOL   IGNORANCE   OF   THE   BIBLE 


165 


students."     In  his  Pastoral  Leadership  of  Sunday  School 
Forces  lie  gives  the  results.     They  are  as  follows  :  — 


Question. 

Northwestern 
University. 

Olivet. 

Correctly 
answered. 

Correctly 
answered. 

What  is  the  Pentateuch? 

What  is  the  Higher  Criticism  of  the  Scrip- 
tures?      

62+% 
16.6 

58+ 

63.5 

47- 

49- 

54+ 

80 

32.5 

80% 
0 

Does  the  Book  of  Jude  belong  to  the  Old 
Testament  or  to  the  New  ? 

Name  one  of  the  Patriarchs  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment   

80 
70 

Name  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Old  Testament 
Name  three  of  the  Kings  of  Israel     .... 

Name  three  Prophets 

Give  one  of  the  Beatitudes 

Quote  a  verse  from  the  letter  to  the  Romans 

60 
100 
100 

90 

70 

Percentage  correctly  answered   .... 

51.4 

72 

"  Professor  Coe  gives  some  strange  facts  with  regard  to 
blunders  made  by  his  students.  As  for  example,  among 
the  judges  were  named  Solomon,  Jeremiah,  and  Leviti- 
cus; among  the  prophets  were  Matthew,  Luke,  and  John; 
Herod  and  Ananias  appeared  as  kings  of  Israel;  Nebu- 
chadnezzar figured  both  as  judge  and  king  of  Israel ;  the 
Pentateuch  was  confused  with  the  Gospels  and  in  one 
case  with  'the  seven  Gospels.'  Among  the  Beatitudes 
were  the  following  :  '  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  heart, 
for  they  shall  see  God ; '  '  Blessed  are  the  law-givers ; ' 
'Blessed  are  the  hungry,  for  they  shall  be  fed.'" 

It  should  be  noted  that  questions  2  and  9  are  very  diffi- 


166  THE   FRONT   LINE 

cult  for  young  people,  or  even  for  educated  people  who 
have  not  a  very  good  memory.  At  the  Congregational 
Superintendents'  Union  in  Boston  the  following  state- 
ment was  made  by  Mr.  Southworth,  the  head-master  of 
a  city  school,  and  afterwards  superintendent  of  schools  in 
the  city,  and  a  superintendent  of  a  Sunday  School  :  — 

"  Do  you  think,"  said  he,  "  that  the  essentials  of  Bible  knowledge 
are  taught  in  our  Sunday  Schools?  Let  me  give  you  a  bit  of  my 
experience.  I  asked  a  large  number  of  Sunday  School  scholars 
from  15  to  17  years  old  to  write  for  me  a  little  life  of  Christ,  just 
as  I  might  have  asked  them,  had  they  been  public  school  scholars,  to 
write  a  life  of  Washington  or  Lincoln.  Here  are  some  paragraphs 
taken  from  the  compositions  I  received  in  response  to  that  request :  — 

" '  There  were  no  years  before  Christ,  therefore  he  was  born  in  the 
year  1.' 

"  '  Jesus  was  the  father  of  Christ.  He  was  born  in  Jerusalem  in 
the  year  1.' 

"  '  Jesus  was  born  in  an  old  barn  of  Jerusalem.' 

" '  Christ  was  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  His  parents  were  very 
old.' 

"  *  Christ  went  to  work  when  31  years  old,  in  the  same  field  with 
his  father.  After  a  while  he  began  to  teach  the  Bible  and  made  the 
Ten  Commandments  on  a  mount.'  " 

Such  answers  can  be  multiplied  to  almost  any  extent. 
A  young  man  objected  to  the  Bible  as  inaccurate  because, 
as  he  said  :  — 

"  In  one  of  the  Gospels  we  are  told  that  Joseph  was  the  husband 
of  Mary,  while  we  are  carefully  informed  elsewhere  that  he  married 
the  daughter  of  Potiphera,  the  priest  of  On.  I  don't  want  to  pin  my 
faith  to  any  of  the  statements  of  such  a  book." 

Another  could  not  believe  that  the  children  of  Israel  car- 
ried Noah's  ark  forty  years  through  the  wilderness.  And 
again,  here  is  a  literal  copy  from  Miss  Graham  of  what 
one  pupil  wrote  :  — 


SUNDAY  SCHOOL   IGNORANCE   OF   THE  BIBLE         167 

"  Esau  was  a  man  who  wrote  fables  and  sold  the  copyright  to  a 
publisher  for  a  bottle  of  potash." 

It  looks  more  like  a  joke  made  on  purpose. 

Our  first  inquiry  should  be,  How  much  do  these  things 
signify  ?  What  value  shall  we  put  upon  them  as  tests  of 
the  work  done  in  school  ? 

1.  I  have  made  a  good  many  tests  and  experiments, 
and  the  average  results  in  every  case  are  better  than  those 
given.  A  large  number  of  Sunday  Schools  in  Newton, 
Massachusetts,  took  an  examination,  unannounced  before- 
hand, on  the  Life  of  Christ,  and  "the  percentage  of  right 
answers  was  at  least  75  per  cent  (I  have  not  the  exact 
figures  now).  Several  times  in  our  own  school  we  have 
given  tests  on  the  Life  of  Christ  like  the  one  which  Mr. 
Southworth  used  and  always  Avith  results  much  better 
than  he  claimed. 

In  the  Outlook  some  years  ago  a  lady  wrote  her  experi- 
ence with  a  class  of  girls  twelve  years  of  age,  in  which 
was  included  the  daughters  of  the  minister  and  deacons. 
She  asked  them,  Who  was  Moses,  and  then  other  Old  Tes- 
tament characters,  and  not  one  of  them  knew  the  answers, 
except  to  ''  Who  was  the  first  man?  "  the  most  disputed  of 
all.  Frequently,  after  that,  in  visiting  Sunday  Schools, 
I  selected  a  class  of  about  the  age  she  tested,  and  with 
the  permission  of  the  teacher  to  whom  I  told  the  above 
experience,  asked  the  scholars.  Who  was  Moses?  I  said 
the  form  of  the  question  was  very  bad,  for  no  one  could 
know  which  of  a  dozen  answers  was  desired,  and  I  ex- 
plained what  I  wanted,  but  gave  no  clew.  Nearly  every 
scholar  in  each  class  knew  something  about  Moses.  Then 
I  asked  them.  Who  was  George  Washington  ?  and  with 
the  exception  of  a  class  of  boys  who  had  just  been  study- 


168  THE   FRONT   LINE 

ing  United  States  history,  I  did  not  find  one  who  did  not 
know  as  mucli  about  Moses  as  about  Washington. 

At  the  close  of  the  study  of  the  Life  of  Christ  this 
year  (1904)  I  gave  for  the  Review^  in  my  Select  Notes 
and  in  the  Quarterlies,  a  test  similar  to  that  of  President 
Thwing,  consisting  of  references  in  literature  to  events  in 
the  Gospels  we  had  been  studying.  I  have  heard  so  many 
expressions  of  interest  in  the  plan  that  I  give  the  refer- 
ences for  the  benefit  of  any  who  may  wish  to  test  their 
scholars  or  themselves.  I  asked  teachers  to  send  me  a 
report,  and  the  results  as  collated  by  my  assistant  are, 
that  of  89  persons  reported,  28  answered  all  the  references 
correctly,  and  of  the  2444  questions  answered  74  per  cent 
were  correct. 

Tennyson. 

1.  "  My  sin  was  a  thorn 
Among  the  thorns  that  girt  Thy  brow." 

—  Supposed  Confessions. 

2.  "  Arimathsean  Joseph." —  The  Holy  Grail. 

3.  "  For  I  have  flung  thee  pearls  and  find  thee  swine." 

—  The  Last  Tournament. 

4.  "  Perhaps,  like  him  of  Cana  in  Holy  Writ, 

Our  Arthur  kept  his  best  until  the  last." 

—  The  Holy  Grail. 

5.  "  The  church  on  Peter's  rock."  —  Queen  Mary. 

6.  "Follow  Light  and  do  the  Right  —  for  man  can  half  control  his 

doom  — 
Till  you  find  the  deathless  Angel  seated  in  the  vacant  tomb." 
—  Locksley  Hall,  Sixty  Years  After. 

WniTTIER. 

7.  "  Whispering,  by  its  open  door  : 

'  Fear  not !     He  hath  gone  before.'  "  —  My  Dream. 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL  IGNORANCE   OF  THE  BIBLE        169 

8.  "  Whate'er  hath  touched  his  garment's  hem." 

—  World's  Convention. 

9.  "  And  broke  with  publicans  the  bread  of  shame."  —  The  Gallows. 

10.   "  He  who  cooled  the  furnace  and  smoothed  the  stormy  wave." 

—  Cassandra  Southwick. 

11-  "  *  Cast  thyself  down,'  the  tempter  saith, 

'And  angels  shall  thy  feet  upbear.'  " — The  Anstver. 

12.  "  But  where  are  the  sisters  who  hastened  to  greet 

The  lowly  Redeemer,  and  sit  at  his  feet."  —  Palestine. 

13.  "  O  Thou !  at  whose  rebuke  the  grave 

Back  to  warm  life  the  sleeper  gave." 

—  The  Human  Sacrifice. 

14.  "When  'get  thee  behind  me,  Satan'  was  the  language  of  my 

heart." —  Cassandra  Southwick. 

15.  "  And  the  voice  that  breathed  peace  to  the  waves  of  the  sea." 

—  Palestine. 
Shakespeare. 

16.  "  Though  some  of  you,  with  Pilate,  wash  your  hands." 

—  Richard  II. 
D.  M.  MuLOCK  Craik. 

17.  "  Only,  —  O  God,  O  God,  to  cry  for  bread, 

And  get  a  stone  !  "  —  Only  a  Woman. 
Longfellow. 

18.  "  And  each  face  did  shine  like  the  Holy  One's  face  at  Mt.  Tabor." 

—  Children  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
Buskin. 

19.  "  The  house  unroofed  by  faith.''  —  Stones  of  Venice. 

20.  "  Our  Father's  business."  —  Ethics  of  the  Dust. 
Milton. 

21.  "  The  Pilot  of  the  Galilean  Lake ."  —  Lycidas. 
Browning. 

22.  "  Who  went  and  danced,  and  got  men's  heads  cut  off." 

—  Fra  Lippo  Lippi. 


170  THE   FRONT   LINE 

Mrs.  Browning. 

23.  "  The  star  is  lost  in  the  dark ; 

The  manger  is  lost  in  the  straw."  —  Christmas  Gifts. 

24.  "  Come  forth,  tread  out  through  the  dark  and  drear, 

Since  he  who  walks  on  the  sea  is  here." 

—  View  across  the  Roman  Campagna. 

25.  *'  Griping  the  Bag  of  the  traitor  Dead."  —  Ihid. 

26.  "  Couldst  thou  not  watch  one  hour  ?  " —  Casa  Guidi  Windows. 

27.  "  It  went  up  single,  echoless,  '  My  God,  I  am  forsaken.'  " 

—  Cowpefs  Grave. 
Thackeray. 

28.  "  Who  bade  the  mud  from  Dives'  wheel, 

To  spurn  the  rags  of  Lazarus." — The  end  of  the  Play. 

Jane  Taylor. 

29.  "  The  torn  scrap  of  a  leaf, 

Containing  the  prayer  of  the  penitent  thief." 

—  The  Philosopher's  Scales. 

30.  "  Yet  not  mountains  of  silver  and  gold  could  suffice 

One  pearl  to  outweigh,  —  'twas  the  pearl  of  great  price." — Ibid. 

2.  In  order  to  estimate  the  value  to  be  put  on  such 
tests,  it  should  be  noted  that  every  case  of  ignorance  in 
the  Sunday  School  can  be  matched  and  more  than 
matched  in  the  day  schools  on  the  subjects  taught  there. 
For  years  I  have  kept  two  large  envelopes,  one  labelled 
Sunday  School  Ignorance,  and  the  other  Day  School 
Ignorance. 

Dr.  Schauffler  says  that  in  some  examination  papers 
presented  to  him  as  showing  Sunday  School  ignorance, 
there  were  more  failures  in  tlie  things,  like  spelling  and 
grammar,  which  belong  to  Day  School  ignorance.  Just 
the  other  day  the  head  of  a  department  in  a  Brooklyn 
High  School  complained  bitterly  of  the  Grammar  Schools 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL   IGNORANCE   OF    THE   BIBLE         171 

that  the  scholars  from  tliem  did  not  know  how  to  spell, 
nor  even  know  the  alphabet  so  as  to  be  able  to  look  up 
words  in  the  dictionary. 

"  Complaint  is  heard  on  the  New  York  side  of  the  river, 
among  mercliants  and  other  business  men,  that  boys  sent 
out  from  the  city  schools  come  to  the  store  and  the  shop 
densely  ignorant  in  the  commonest  branches  of  learning  ; 
that  often  they  cannot  write  a  simple  letter  without  atro- 
cious blunders  in  grammar  and  spelling,  and  are  unable  to 
cast  up  a  column  of  figures  correctly." 

Here  is  a  report  from  a  professor  of  English  at  Williams 
College.  "  Recently,  finding  that  his  elective  classes  knew 
little  about  the  best-known  writers  in  English  literature, 
he  addressed  a  series  of  questions  to  a  class  of  forty  sopho- 
mores. These  students  may  be  assumed  fairly  to  repre- 
sent the  average  acquirements  of  college  undergraduates 
at  that  stage.  Out  of  the  forty,  ten  were  unable  to  men- 
tion six  plays  by  Shakespeare  ;  fourteen  did  not  know  who 
wrote  In  Memoriam ;  twenty-two  had  never  heard  of 
Sam  Weller ;  twenty-three  could  not  tell  Avho  wrote  The 
Mill  on  the  Floss ;  twenty-six  could  not  mention  a  work 
by  Ruskin ;  thirty -four  could  not  tell  who  Falstaff  was,  and 
thirty-five  could  not  mention  a  single  poem  by  either 
Wordsworth  or  Browning." 

A  writer  in  a  late  number  of  the  Outlook  reports  some 
conversations  with  boys  ranging  in  age  from  ten  to  fifteen 
years,  and  also  with  some  voters,  all  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  New  York  City.  They  did  not  know  the  mean- 
ing of  common  things  reported  in  the  newspapers,  as 
municipal,  municipality,  the  President's  cabinet,  ambas- 
sador, federal.  Their  answers  were  some  of  them  very 
curious. 


172  THE   FRONT    LINE 

Mr.  Cleveland  and  other  eminent  politicians  will  be 
surprised  to  hear  that  the  Philippines  "  are  islands  of  fugi- 
tive savages,  most  of  whom  are  democrats  and  cannibals." 

Whole  books  have  been  written  exploiting  these  blunders. 

Before  we  undertake  to  estimate  the  meaning  and  bear- 
ing of  these  facts  on  both  day  school  and  Sunday  School, 
let  us  go  on  a  little  farther  in  our  search  for  facts. 

3.  It  is  well  to  remember  that  very  few  adults,  even 
educated  men,  —  men  of  talent,  and  power,  and  usefulness, 
—  can  remember  definite  facts,  or  quote  word  for  word. 
"  A  London  paper  says  that  barristers  hold  that  the  pro- 
portion of  persons  who  can  state  a  fact  or  quote  a  con- 
versation with  complete  correctness  is  about  one  in  a 
thousand,  and  concludes  an  article  with  the  assertion  that 
'Man  is  not  a  text-quoting  animal.'  " 

I  have  before  me  statements  concerning  Harvard  pro- 
fessors and  even  President  Roosevelt,  who  misquoted 
Scripture.  It  is  related  that  in  setting  up  a  plea  of  self- 
defence  in  a  murder  case  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler  quoted  from 
Satan's  words  in  Job,  saying,  "  We  have  it  on  the  Jiighest 
authority  that  all  that  a  man  hath  will  he  give  for  his  life." 

The  Evangelist  Munhall  used  frequently  in  his  addresses 
to  offer  a  finely  bound  Bible  to  any  one  present  who  would 
repeat  correctly  twelve  verses  from  twelve  different  books 
of  the  Bible,  and  state  the  chapter  and  verse.  I  was  told 
that  he  had  never  found  a  person  who  could  do  it.  The 
only  time  I  ever  met  him  was  in  Paris  in  1894,  and  I  asked 
him  if  this  was  true.  He  said  that  he  had  lately  found 
one  colored  boy  who  could  do  it,  but  never  any  other.  I 
have  tried  the  experiment  with  educated  persons  familiar 
with  the  Bible,  and  I  have  never  yet  found  a  person  who 
could  stand  that  simple  test. 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL  IGNORANCE   OF   THE  BIBLE         173 

A  few  years  ago  while  making  a  Sunday  School  tour 
through  the  principal  cities  of  Ohio,  I  said  to  a  very  in- 
telligent man  in  the  hotel  dining  room  :  "  I  do  not  believe 
that  one-quarter  of  the  people  in  this  room  can  tell  how 
many  states  there  are  in  the  Union.  He  was  sure  he  could, 
and  he  named  forty-two  states  and  ten  territories.  As  we 
were  leaving  we  noticed  in  the  morning  paper  a  statement 
that  the  government  were  questioning  how  to  arrange  the 
forty-three  stars  on  the  flag ;  and  the  evening  paper  of  the 
same  day  at  Toledo  stated  that  it  was  finally  decided  how 
to  arrange  the  forty-four  stars. 

Only  a  day  or  two  ago,  desiring  to  be  certain  before  I 
wrote  it  down,  I  asked  a  number  of  people  in  an  unusually 
intelligent  company,  whether  there  had  been  fifteen  or 
sixteen  amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  There  was  no  certainty  in  the  answers  till  I  came 
to  some  teachers,  one  of  whom,  a  teacher  of  history,  con- 
firmed their  statement  by  the  history.  How  many  of  you 
can  tell  which  is  the  right  number,  or  how  many  states 
there  are  in  the  Union? 

It  has  been  said  that  no  college  president  could  pass  the 
entrance  examination  to  his  own  college,  though  he  really 
knows  a  thousand  times  as  much  as  those  who  can  pass. 

4.  It  is  hardly  fair  to  judge  of  the  results  of  any  sys- 
tem of  instruction  by  its  poorer  scholars,  or  of  a  fruit  tree 
by  its  wormy  fruit.  We  know  that  a  marvellous  amount 
of  good  education  is  obtained  in  many  directions  in  spite 
of  imperfection  in  other  directions.  It  will  be  seen  from 
these  examples  that  memory  tests  are  not  in  any  case  a 
complete  test  of  knowledge  of  any  subject,  much  less  of 
the  knowledge  of  the  details  of  the  Bible,  which  it  takes 
several  years  to  go  over  in  one  half  hour  once  a  week. 


174  THE   FRONT   LINE 

Who  is  SO  educated  that  he  does  not  have  to  turn  con- 
tinually to  reference  books  and  dictionaries?  I  keep  a 
number  always  at  hand  so  that  when  persecuted  in  one 
dictionary  I  can  flee  to  another. 

Then  in  most  school  examinations,  these  follow  close 
upon  the  study  of  the  subjects,  the  colleges  giving  pre- 
liminary examinations  for  this  purpose. 

We  must  always  consider,  in  the  results,  the  fact  that 
many  persons  may  know  the  fact,  while  ignorant  of  terms 
familiar  to  us  expressing  those  facts.  For  instance,  in 
a  late  examination  paper,  or  rather  test  paper,  in  our 
Sunday  School,  one  of  the  questions  was.  Name  the  four 
evangelists.  One  of  the  scholars  came  to  me  and  asked 
who  were  meant  by  "  evangelists,"  he  never  having  heard 
the  term.  Speaking  of  this  to  a  college  student  who  has 
been  brought  up  all  his  life  in  a  Bible  atmosphere,  he 
declared  that  he  did  not  recognize  the  term  as  referring  to 
the  Bible.  But  he  knew  who  were  the  authors  of  the 
four  Gospels.  One  might  know  the  whole  Bible  by  heart 
and  not  know  how  to  define  the  Higher  Criticism. 

"Mr.  John  Tetlow,  of  the  Girls'  High  School  in  Boston, 
whose  name  carries  as  much  weight  as  that  of  any  one 
educator  engaged  in  fitting  girls  for  college,  last  year 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  Boston  Transcript^  stating  his  experi- 
ence with  a  Harvard  examination  paper  for  which  an  hour 
was  allowed.  JNIr.  Tetlow  took  fifty -six  minutes  to  write 
the  paper,  so  he  had  only  four  minutes  to  look  it  over. 
On  re-reading  it  at  leisure  the  next  day,  he  felt  that  he 
should  be  ashamed  to  have  his  spelling,  punctuation,  or 
rhetoric  judged  by  it." 

It  is  reported  that  a  martinet  school  teacher,  after  hear- 
ing a  sermon  by  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  went  to  him  with 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL   IGNORANCE   OF   THE   BIBLE         175 

gratitude  for  his  teaching  and  preaching  power,  but  also 
said,  "  Why,  Mr.  Beecher,  I  counted  eighty-three  gram- 
matical mistakes  in  your  sermon  this  morning."  "Is 
that  all?"  replied  Mr.  Beecher,  "I'll  bet  you  there  were 
a  hundred." 

One  of  the  most  brilliant  professors  in  Boston  said  to 
me  that  when  he  saw  the  stenographic  report  of  one  of  his 
extempore  addresses,  he  tore  it  up  in  disgust  and  wrote 
out  what  he  wanted  to  say. 

I  never  was  more  surprised  in  my  life  than  the  first  time 
I  saw  one  of  my  extempore  addresses  reported  verbatim. 

Once  more  the  memory  tests  are  no  test  of  the  main 
results  at  which  the  Sunday  School  is  aiming.  The  spir- 
itual and  character  results  are  largely,  not  entirely,  inde- 
pendent of  the  exact  memory  of  details. 

In  the  charming  illustrated  book,  The  Holy  Land^  by 
Fulleylove  and  Kelman,  the  author  writes :  "  In  Syria 
.  .  .  the  most  skilful  dragoman  cannot  understand  a  map, 
nor  guide  you  to  your  destination  by  geographical  direc- 
tions. .  .  .  On  unknown  ground  a  Syrian  is  of  little  use 
as  a  guide.  .  .  .  He  finds  his  way  partly  ...  by  the 
habit  of  noticing  minute  features  of  the  road  which  entirely 
escape  the  ordinary  observer.  A  story  is  told  of  a  thief 
in  a  certain  town  in  Palestine  who  entered  a  house  and 
stole  nothing.  He  simply  went  out  and  claimed  the  house 
before  the  judge.  When  the  case  came  to  trial,  the  thief 
challenged  the  owner  to  tell  how  many  steps  there  were  in 
the  stair,  how  many  panes  of  glass  in  the  windows,  and 
a  long  catalogue  of  other  such  details.  This  the  owner 
could  not  do,  and  when  the  thief  gave  the  numbers  cor- 
rectly, the  house  was  at  once  given  to  him  as  its  obvious 
owner,"  although  the  real  owner  had  lived  there  all  his  life. 


176  THE   FRONT    LINE 

A  man  may  live  all  his  life  in  the  Gospel  spirit,  obeying 
its  precepts,  at  home  in  its  teachings,  and  yet  be  unable  to 
tell  how  many  chapters  or  verses  there  are,  or  how  many 
miracles  they  record,  and  many  other  details. 

At  a  convention  some  one  said  that  in  our  Sunday 
School  we  failed  to  teach  the  commandments  and  Bible 
facts  to  the  children,  while  in  the  Episcopal  and  Catholic 
schools  all  the  children  knew  them.  The  following  Sun- 
day I  went  into  a  Sunday  School  and  when  asked  to  speak 
I  requested  permission  to  ask  some  questions.  "How 
many  of  you  know  the  Ten  Commandments?"  About 
one-fourth  held  up  their  hands.  But,  I  said,  I  do  not 
mean  how  many  can  say  them  word  for  word,  but  how 
many  can  tell  what  is  the  first  commandment,  or  the  third, 
or  the  fifth,  etc.  Three-fourths  of  the  school  held  up  their 
hands.  But  the  minister  and  the  superintendent  came  to 
me  to  explain  why  they  had  not  held  up  their  hands.  I 
had  not  expected  them  to,  of  course.  But  they  said  that 
they  had  learned  the  Ten  Commandments  out  of  the 
Bible,  and  they  were  not  numbered  there.  They  knew 
the  commandments  and  kept  them,  without  knowing  them 
by  number. 

Thousands  live  the  commandments  who  cannot  repeat 
them  word  for  word.  Many  gain  power  from  literature 
who  do  not  know  much  of  what  is  taught  in  the  schools 
concerning  the  books  and  their  authors. 

Now,  I  am  not  saying  these  things  to  excuse  ignorance 
of  ordinary  Bible  facts,  for  I  believe  it  is  important  to 
know  them,  and  that  they  are  a  real  help  to  knowing, 
remembering,  understanding,  and  living  the  great  spirit- 
ual and  character-forming  truths  of  the  Bible. 

It  is  the  edge  of  the  axe  that  does  the  cutting,  and  is 


SUNDAY  SCHOOL  IGNORANCE  OF  THE  BIBLE   177 

the  most  important  thing  about  the  axe  ;  but  the  heavy- 
iron  back  of  the  edge  multiplies  its  cutting  power.  All 
Bible  knowledge,  especially  an  accurate  knowledge  of  its 
main  facts,  are  essential  to  the  best  character-forming 
work  of  the  Sunday  School. 

There  are  several  things  which  can  greatly  diminish  the 
amount  of  Sunday  School  ignorance  of  the  Bible,  all  of 
them  simple  and  easily  possible. 

1.  The  right  kind  of  Reviews,  in  which  the  main  facts 
of  the  quarter's  lessons  are  clearly  set  forth  and  drilled 
into  the  memory. 

2.  The  right  kind  of  supplemental  lessons  can  do  for 
the  Intermediate  classes  what  is  done  to  some  extent  now 
in  the  Primary  grade.  They  must  largely  consist  of  ques- 
tions with  definite  answers,  covering  the  points  most 
needed  to  be  known,  and  in  which  failures  are  most  often 
shown. 

3.  But  the  greatest  means  is  the  daily  reading  of 
the  Bible  at  home.  A  part  of  the  time  the  whole 
Bible  in  course.  At  the  door  of  neglect  of  daily  Bible 
reading  lies  the  chief  cause  of  the  ignorance  of  the 
Bible,  so  often  charged  to  the  account  of  the  Sunday 
School. 

"  Of  about  forty  students  in  the  freshman  class  in  a 
certain  college,  six  of  whom  were  ministers'  sons,  the 
president  found  that  not  one  had  read  the  Bible  through; 
only  five  had  read  the  New  Testament,  one  had  read  the 
Bible  as  far  as  Proverbs,  few  had  read  through  the  books 
of  Moses,  all  were  ignorant  of  the  Prophets,  and  not  one 
could  give  the  names  of  the  books  of  the  Bible.  And  these 
were  educated  young  men,  fitted  for  college."  In  mak- 
ing tests  on  this  point  I  have  found  a  larger  proportion 


178  THE   FRONT   LINE 

of  adults  than  of  young  peojjle  who  have  read  the  whole 
Bible. 

The  Young  People's  societies  are  doing  much,  but  the 
Sunday  School  teachers  can  do  still  more  by  persuading 
their  scholars  to  daily  home  study  and  home  reading  of 
the  Bible.     And  the  parents  can  do  most  of  all. 


VIII 

SIGNS   OF    GROWING  INTEREST  IN   BIBLE    STUDY   EX^ 
PRESSED  IN  ORGANIZATIONS  FOR  THAT   PURPOSE 

Arthur  Helps,  in  his  Friends  in  Council^  makes  the  wise 
man  of  affairs  say  that  the  prophet  whose  range  of  vision 
is  narrowed  to  a  few  years  is  apt  to  be  a  pessimist,  while 
he  whose  vision  sweeps  over  centuries  is  full  of  joy  and 
hope.  So  he  who  sees  only  certain  phases  or  forms  of 
Bible  study,  under  certain  conditions,  in  certain  localities, 
in  some  narrow  vista  of  the  years,  is  apt  to  abide  in  that 
discouraged  condition  best  expressed  by  the  words  in 
which  Emerson  is  said  to  have  characterized  his  visit  to 
Ruskin,  "  Solid  gloom." 

But  a  larger  vision,  a  longer  period  for  comparison,  a 
wider  range  of  methods  and  forms  of  study,  a  broader 
extent  of  territory,  will  change  the  whole  aspect  of  the 
spiritual  landscape.  The  "  seven  fears  "  will  be  changed 
into  "  seven  joys,"  as,  to  the  king  in  the  Light  of  Asia, 
the  old  flag  rent  by  the  blast  was  but  the  rending  of 
false  superstitions,  the  flinging  away  of  the  gems  like  a 
shower  was  but  the  scattering  of  precious  truths  to  the 
people,  the  ten  elephants  that  shook  the  earth  with  their 
tread  were  the  ten  great  gifts  of  wisdom,  and  the  drum 
that  pealed  like  a  thunderstorm  was  but  the  sound  of  the 
preached  word  "heard  round  the  world." 

I.  Let  us  first  take  a  glimpse  at  the  growth  of  Bible 
study  in  the  Sunday  School  as  the  leading  Bible  study 

179 


180  THE   FRONT   LINE 

department  of  the  Church.  One  does  not  need  to  listen 
very  intently  to  hear  a  dirge  in  a  minor  key  to  which  is 
set  such  monotonous  refrains  as  :  — 

"The  decadence  of  the  Sunday  School." 

"Dying  at  the  top." 

"Sunday  School  ignorance  of  the  Bible." 

"  The  decline  in  numbers." 

"The  Sunday  School  failure." 

"  The  Christian  Endeavor  waning." 

Men  of  wisdom  and  science  see  these  things,  for  they 
are  there  to  be  seen  ;  and  we  ought  to  see  them  till  they 

"  Stir  a  fever  in  the  blood  of  age 
And  make  the  infant  sinew  strong  as  steel." 

But  such  views  are  for  the  most  part  partial  and  local 
and  narrow.  No  cause  ever  triumphed  when  its  soldiers 
marched  to  dirges,  but  only  when  they  were  inspired  and 
stirred  to  the  very  depths  by  songs  of  courage  and  hope. 
Of  all  the  Psalms  there  is  but  one  that  has  not  in  it 
the  note  of  hope  of  better  things.  There  is  not  one  of 
the  prophets,  however  earnest  in  his  warnings,  and  terri- 
ble in  his  pictures  of  the  fruit  of  sin,  but  has  also  bright 
visions  of  the  good  time  coming.  The  glory  of  the  Greeks 
waned,  for  its  age  of  gold  was  in  the  far  past.  Prophets 
and  Gospels  are  succeeding,  for  their  age  of  gold  is  always 
before  them. 

The  very  abundance  of  the  criticisms  is  a  sign  of  the 
value  and  power  of  the  Sunday  School.  It  is  the  blooded 
horse,  not  the  worn-out  hack,  which  is  padded  and 
patched  and  spurred  on  to  a  faster  gait.  It  is  the  good 
man  whom  the  preachers  most  berate  for  not  doing  better. 
It  is  the  best  fruit  tree  that  is  most  trimmed  and  scraped. 


GROWING   INTEREST   IN   BIBLE   STUDY  181 

There  has  never  been  an  International  Triennial  Con- 
vention which  has  not  shown  a  large  increase  in  the 
Sunday  School  membership,  even  without  adding  the 
325,000  in  the  Home  Department.  The  fourteen  mill- 
ions in  the  Sunday  Schools  represent  one-sixth  of  the 
whole  population.  Dr.  Mead,  in  his  excellent  Modern 
Methods  in  Sunday  School  Work,  says  that  "  Thirteen  mill- 
ions of  children  and  youth  in  our  country  never  cross  the 
threshold  of  a  Bible  school,  either  Protestant  or  Roman 
Catholic."  How  can  this  be  when,  according  to  the  United 
States  census  of  1900,  the  total  population  attending  day 
schools  is  only  13,367,147,  and  the  total  population  of 
school  age,  5  to  17  years,  including  Negroes,  Indians,  and 
Mongolians,  is  only  21,538,024. 

Some  time  ago  General  Butler,  when  he  was  candidate 
for  the  governorship  of  Massachusetts,  and  was  showing 
the  need  of  reforming  our  day  school  system,  stated  that 
there  were  in  the  state  104,206  persons  who  could  not  read 
and  write.  But  a  look  at  the  government  statistics  showed 
that  93,272  of  these  were  born  in  foreign  countries,  6934 
were  natives  of  other  states,  and  only  2486  were  natives 
of  this  state  and  brought  up  under  its  school  system. 

One  is  continually  tempted  to  repeat  Edward  Everett 
Hale's  famous  hon  mot,  ''Positive, '  lie ' ;  comparative, '  liar ' ; 
superlative,  'statistics.'"  I  have  never  yet  known  an 
accurate  census  taken  in  any  city  or  town  which  did  not 
present  a  better  showing  than  had  been  claimed.  Most 
Sunday  School  statistics,  especially  those  given  at  the 
Triennial  International  Conventions,  are  remarkably  ac- 
curate on  the  positive  side  for  Evangelical  schools,  but 
they  do  not  include  the  Roman  Catholics  and  several  other 
denominations.     Hence   the   inferences   that  many  draw 


182  THE    FRONT    LINE 

from  thein  are  very  far  from  the  actual  facts,  for  by 
merely  subtracting  the  given  Sunday  School  figures  from 
the  figures  of  the  United  States  census,  they  count  as 
unreached  all  the  infirm  and  the  sick,  all  who  have  been 
to  Sunday  School  some  part  of  the  12  years  between 
5  and  17  but  are  not  in  the  schools  at  the  time  the  census 
was  taken,  and  all  members  of  Roman  Catholic  and  some 
other  schools.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  hereafter  the  whole 
Sunday  School  population  will  be  included  in  the  statis- 
tics, because  so  many  make  the  facts  appear  much  worse 
than  they  are  by  using  the  International  statistics  as  if 
they  were  inclusive  of  all. 

In  connection  with  the  Sabbath  School  there  has  been  a 
marvellous  increase  in  the  number  of  Bibles  used.  The 
annual  sale  was  never  so  great.  The  two  Bible  societies, 
the  British  and  the  American,  circulate  6,000,000  a  year, 
and  there  are  42  private  publishers  besides,  one  of  which 
alone  sells  750,000  annually.  The  Bibles  are  published 
in  a  great  variety  of  forms,  and  are  far  superior  to  the 
Bibles  of  half  a  century  ago.  The  maps,  concordances, 
pictures,  text-books,  and  all  kinds  of  helps  are  the  best 
that  can  be  obtained,  while  formerly  there  were  almost 
none  of  these  things. 

Again  the  literature  published  to  help  children  and 
others  to  get  at  the  meaning  and  applications  of  Scrip- 
ture, including  pamphlets  like  lesson  quarterlies  and 
teachers'  monthlies,  as  well  as  solid  volumes,  amounts  to 
several  tens  of  millions  annually,  next  in  amount  to  the 
secular  newspapers. 

Never  has  there  been  so  much  done  in  the  exploration 
of  Bible  lands  for  recovering  the  relics  of  the  past ;  never 
so  much  written   about  the  Bible  in  secular  newspapers 


GROWING    INTEREST   IN   BIBLE   STUDY  183 

and  in  popular  magazines ;  never  so  many  books  published 
relating  to  the  Bible ;  never  so-  many  courses  of  Bible 
study  in  our  Colleges  and  Universities.  It  seems  as  if 
the  moral  atmosphere  had  been  so  changed  that  the  dif- 
ference could  be  read  from  the  stars. 

II.  The  International  Sunday  School  Executive  Commit- 
tee. —  The  work  of  this  committee  has  been  so  quietly 
done,  and  so  overshadowed  by  the  work  of  the  Interna- 
tional Lesson  Committee,  that  few  seem  to  know  how  vast 
is  its  work,  how  complete  and  extensive  its  organization, 
how  great  its  working  forces,  how  much  it  has  accom- 
plished. Great  men  have  summarized  the  religious  move- 
ments and  educational  forces  of  the  country  without 
recognizing  its  work,  or  seeming  to  know  that  it  exists. 

At  the  remarkable  gathering  of  religious  educators 
at  Chicago  in  the  spring  of  1903,  at  which  the  Religious 
Education  Association  was  formed,  the  first  public  meet- 
ing had  for  its  subject,  "  The  Next  Step  Forward  in  Reli- 
gious Education."  The  seven  chief  answers  presented  by 
the  speakers  as  to  what  this  next  step  should  be  were :  — 

1.  Manual  training  of  the  young  in  all  forms  of  reli- 
gious activity,  in  preparation  for  their  work  in  the  church 
and  in  life. 

2.  Making  the  present  teachers  better,  and  the  future 
teachers  better  still. 

3.  Greater  emphasis  on  the  teaching  function  of  the 
ministry. 

4.  An  organized  and  aggressive  campaiign  of  universal 
Bible  study  according  to  the  best  educational  methods. 

5.  Better  provisions  for  the  training  of  teachers ;  the 
best  apparatus  of  all  kinds,  libraries,  normal  classes,  train- 
ing schools,  and  the  like. 


184  THE   FRONT   LINE 

6.  Emphasis  on  the  duty  of  the  religious  training  of 
the  children  in  the  home. 

7.  Bible  study  in  colleges  in  the  regular  curriculum. 
Now  the  International  Association  for  years  has  been 

taking  the  first  six  of  these  seven  great  steps,  and  urging 
them  on  the  Sunday  Schools  all  over  the  country. 

The  whole  country  has  been  divided  into  nine  great  dis- 
tricts, each  with  an  executive  committee  and  officers. 

Every  state  and  territory  in  the  Union  (except  Alaska 
and  Indian  Territory)  is  organized  to  carry  on  this 
work. 

Each  state  is  subdivided  into  smaller  districts,  so  as  to 
reach  as  far  as  possible  all  the  Sunday  Schools,  and  inspire 
them  to  better  Bible  work,  better  teaching,  better  grading, 
better  organization. 

The  general  organization  employs  the  best  available 
talent.  Besides  the  chairman,  a  business  man  who  gives 
four-fifths  of  his  time  and  six  or  seven  thousand  dollars  a 
year  to  forwarding  the  work,  there  are  six  paid  workers 
who  give  all  their  time,  and  a  number  of  other  special 
workers  who  give  a  portion  of  their  time.  The  annual 
expenses  are  now  about  $20,000,  in  addition  to  what  is 
done  by  the  chairman. 

Besides  this,  there  are  from  one  to  seven  paid  workers 
in  each  of  the  states  of  the  Union,  except  seven,  making 
over  one  hundred  people  employed  on  full  time  by  the 
various  state  associations,  at  an  expense  of  nearly 
1200,000.  New  York  this  year  spends  116,000 ;  Pennsyl- 
vania 121,000;  Illinois  over  110,000.  All  this  to  bring 
the  best  training  to  superintendents  and  teachers,  and  to 
make  the  best  Bible  knowledge  available  to  all  the  Sunday 
Schools  of  the  land. 


•       GROWING   INTEREST   IN   BIBLE   STUDY  185 

This  organization  stands  :  — 

1.  For  the  betterment  of  the  Sunday  School  all  along 
the  line. 

2.  For  teacher  training,  one  college  professor  giving 
his  whole  time  to  this  work. 

3.  For  "  the  assimilation  of  the  best  results  of  modern 
educational  science." 

4.  For  Bible  study,  leaving  such  methods  as  the  Higher 
Criticism  and  special  doctrinal  teaching  to  denominational 
and  individual  writers. 

5.  For  the  graded  Sunday  School,  along  International 
lines,  as  containing  the  best  possibilities  for  the  Sunday 
School,  but  revised  and  improved  as  fresh  light  and 
experience  may  guide. 

6.  For  the  widest  spreading  of  every  good  thing  in 
Sunday  School  lines  throughout  the  whole  Sunday  School 
world,  especially  to  the  smaller  schools  which  would  other- 
wise be  unable  to  come  in  contact  with  them. 

In  the  words  of  Rev.  E.  Morris  Fergusson  of  New 
Jersey,  one  of  the  wisest,  most  progressive,  and  most  suc- 
cessful of  the  state  secretaries :  "  There  are  teachers  and 
leaders  thoroughly  conversant  with  actual  conditions  in 
the  average  Sunday  School,  trained  in  the  methods  of  the 
new  education,  and  busy  in  the  work  of  constructing 
plans,  evolving  literature  and  standards  of  method,  and 
perfecting  local  organization  among  the  teachers,  through 
which  not  this  and  that  favored  school,  but  a  large  per- 
centage of  all  the  Sunday  Schools,  are  being  brought  into 
line  for  effective  and  spiritual  teaching  of  the  children." 
In  addition  to  this  general  organization,  many  of  the 
denominational  houses  are  carrying  on  the  same  work 
separately  for  their  own  churches  and  Sunday  Schools. 


186  THE   FRONT   LINE 

III.  The  Religious  Education  Association.  —  This  great 
association  grew  out  of  a  very  deep,  growing,  and  almost 
universal  feeling  that  "the  religious  and  moral  instruc- 
tion of  the  young  is  at  present  inadequate,  and  imperfectly 
correlated  with  other  instruction  in  history,  literature, 
and  the  sciences ;  that  the  Sunday  School,  as  the  primary 
institution  for  the  religious  and  moral  education  of  the 
young,  should  be  conformed  to  a  higher  ideal,"  and 
made  more  efficient  for  its  work ;  and  that  there  should 
be  a  more  perfect  and  widely  extended  Bible  study  and 
Bible  teaching.  As  the  electricity  pervading  clouds  and 
earth  is  condensed  into  a  flash  of  lightning,  so  this  deep 
and  broad  feeling  was  crystallized  into  visible  form  in 
February,  1903,  at  Chicago,  in  this  much-needed  and 
remarkable  movement. 

The  personnel  of  the  Convention  when  it  came  into 
being  was  remarkable.  Of  those  who  took  part  in  the 
six  sessions  15  were  or  had  been  college  presidents,  and 
12  were  college  professors ;  on  the  preliminary  commit- 
tees 25  were  college  presidents  and  62  college  professors ; 
and  of  the  60  members  of  the  committees  appointed  to 
carry  out  the  plans  of  the  new  organization,  18  are  or 
were  college  presidents  and  13  college  professors.  The 
influential  majority  of  persons  connected  with  the  organi- 
zation consists  of  eminent  educators,  whose  work  is  with 
young  men  and  women  rather  than  children.  The  con- 
stitution is  almost  identical  with  the  long-tried  and  proved 
constitution  of  the  National  Education  Association. 

While  in  its  first  call  the  Sunday  School  was  the  most 
prominent  factor,  the  Convention  immediately  overflowed 
those  narrow  banks  far  and  wide,  like  the  Jordan  in  its 
spring  floods. 


GROWING   INTEREST   IN   BIBLE   STUDY  187 

Its  purpose  is  very  much  wider  than  Sunday  School  teach- 
ing. It  proposes  to  conduct  its  work  under  seventeen  de- 
partments, as  follows  :  (1)  The  Council,  (2)  Universities 
and  Colleges,  (3)  Theological  Seminaries,  (4)  Churches 
and  Pastors,  (5)  Sunday  Schools,  (6)  Secondary  Public 
Schools,  (7)  Elementary  Public  Schools,  (8)  Private 
Schools,  (9)  Teacher  Training,  (10)  Young  Men's  and 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations,  (11)  Young  Peo- 
ple's Societies,  (12)  The  Home,  (13)  Libraries,  (14)  The 
Press,  (15)  Correspondence  Instruction,  (16)  Summer 
Assemblies,  (17)  Religious  Art  and  Music. 

Its  plan  is  very  broad.  Its  purpose  is  to  "include 
within  its  cooperation  all  types  of  religious  thought,  all 
schools  of  criticism,  and  to  give  its  adhesion  to  no  sect  or 
party  or  institution  or  geographical  section  or  school  of 
criticism."  This  was  wise,  for  any  other  course,  "in  an 
age  which  demands  economy  of  forces  and  the  prevention 
of  waste,  and  whose  religious  watchword  is  federation, 
would  be  a  blunder." 

In  September,  1904,  there  were  1825  members  belong- 
ing to  37  denominations,  and  located  in  43  states,  3  ter- 
ritories, the  District  of  Columbia,  the  Philippine  Islands, 
and  Hawaii;  Alberta,  Manitoba,  New  Brunswick,  Nova 
Scotia,  Ontario,  and  Quebec  ;  Argentina,  the  British  West 
Indies,  England,  Germany,  India,  Japan,  and  Turkey. 

1.  This  association  stands  for  a  very  wide  and  deep  inter- 
est in  Bible  study,  especially  in  our  institutions  of  learning, 
and  for  religion  as  "one  of  the  great  permanent,  living 
forces  that  make  for  individual  and  social  well-being." 

2.  It  stands  for  an  emphasis  on  the  historic  study  of 
the  Bible,  and  for  the  Higher  Criticism,  but  without  any 
endorsement  of  any  particular  views  and  results. 


188  THE   FKONT   LINE 

3.  It  stands  for  the  sixteen  subjects  rehearsed  above, 
in  addition  to  the  Sunday  School ;  and  in  this  direction 
there  is  no  other  organization  which  includes  and  corre- 
lates the  religious  forces  connected  with  so  many  depart- 
ments of  education. 

4.  It  stands  for  emphasis  on  the  new  psychology,  peda- 
gogy, and  child  study,  in  their  relation  to  the  Sunday 
School,  and  especially  on  the  grading  of  the  Sunday 
School  according  to  right  principles,  thus  being  coordi- 
nated with  the  International  system,  though  teaching  that 
the  best  way  to  improve  that  system  is  to  substitute  some- 
thing better  in  its  place. 

5.  Its  emphasis  is  more  on  the  theoretical  side  of  Sun- 
day School  teaching,  the  investigation  of  principles  and 
ideals,  the  larger  part  of  its  leading  men  being  practically 
conversant  more  with  the  youth  of  college  age. 

6.  It  has  a  large  mission  in  the  correlation  of  the  edu- 
cational forces  of  the  time. 

7.  It  has  a  wide  and  noble  field  as  a  "  clearing-house 
of  ideas,"  an  "  experiment-station  "  ;  a  centre  of  scientific 
investigation  in  respect  to  everything  relating  to  moral 
and  religious  education. 

It  can  conduct  experiments  over  a  series  of  years,  and 
test  the  various  theories  and  schemes.  It  can  find  enough 
schools  which  will  be  willing  to  be  the  subject  of  these 
investigations  under  their  guiding  hand,  in  new  schemes 
and  old,  in  modified  forms  of  many  kinds  for  a  period 
long  enough  to  ascertain  the  results,  not  in  one  direction 
only,  but  in  many :  as  to  Bible  knowledge,  as  to  spiritual 
results,  as  to  the  effects  on  the  home  and  the  famil}^,  as  to 
its  influence  on  the  Sunday  School  in  gathering  all  the 
children  of  each  community  into  the  Sunday  School,  as 


GROWING    INTEREST   IN   BIBLE   STUDY  189 

to  the  training  and  preparation  of  teachers  for  their  work. 
There  is  no  other  instrumentality  now  in  existence  which 
can  as  well  conduct  in  a  truly  scientific  spirit  these  inves- 
tigations and  experiments. 

IV.  The  American  Bible  League.  —  Planned  several 
years  before  the  R.  E.  A.,  but  not  materializing  till  the 
year  following  that  organization,  —  in  the  spring  of  1904, 
—  the  American  Bible  League  was  formed,  "  not  to  oppose  " 
the  work  of  the  R.  E.  A.,  but  "to  place  positive,  aggres- 
sive, constructive  study  of  the  Bible  in  the  path  of  de- 
structive criticism."  It  does  not  stand  opposed  to  the 
"  historic  spirit "  or  to  Biblical  criticism,  but  to  some  of 
the  results  which  are  given  to  the  public  in  their  name. 
President  Patton  of  Princeton,  in  his  opening  address, 
says : — 

"  We  want  criticism,  intelligent  criticism,  of  the  Bible. 
We  can't  shut  it  up  in  a  glass  case ;  we  can't  make  an 
expurgatorius  of  books  against  it.  Unless  the  Bible  can 
stand  in  the  daylight,  there  is  no  use  keeping  it  in  the 
dark,  and  it  ought  to  go  down.  We  all  admit  that  this 
controversy  must  be  managed  by  minute  experts  of  the 
Bible  on  each  side.  We  are  willing  to  submit  our  case 
to  the  court,  and  we  expect  a  verdict." 

Professor  Robert  Wilson,  also  of  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary,  spoke  as  follows :  ''  The  only  way  in  which  the 
conservative  party  can  maintain  its  position  in  the  field  of 
Biblical  criticism  is  by  showing  that  the  premises  of  the 
radical  critics  are  false;  by  showing  through  the  more 
thorough  investigation  of  the  facts  that  the  foundations 
upon  which  the  magnificent  structures  of  the  critics  rest 
are,  indeed,  groundless,  unscientific,  and  illogical,  un- 
proved, and  often  incapable  of  proof." 


190  THE   FRONT    LINE 

The  American  Bible  League  stands  for  the  historic 
faith.  Every  member  of  the  American  Bible  League  is 
required  to  subscribe  to  the  following :  "  Believing  in  the 
divine  origin,  inspiration,  integrity,  and  supreme  author- 
ity of  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
I  desire  to  become  a  member  of  the  American  Bible 
League." 

''  In  carrying  out  our  great  work  we  shall  meet  biblical 
experts  of  the  highest  rank  with  experts  of  the  highest 
rank,  and  a  negative,  destructive  scholarship  with  a  posi- 
tive, constructive  scholarship  that,  please  God,  shall  Avin 
the  day." 

For  this  end  it  will  publish  a  magazine,  called  the  Bible 
Student  and  Teacher^  and  a  series  of  Bible  League  Primers. 
It  proposes  the  organization  of  branch  Leagues  in  various 
centres,  and  within  them  League  circles  in  colleges,  schools, 
Christian  associations,  and  in  Sunday  Schools. 

V.  The  Bible  Teachers  Training  School,  of  which  Dr. 
Wilbert  W.  White  is  the  indefatigable  originator  and 
president,  has  entered  its  new  and  beautiful  home  on 
Lexington  Avenue,  New  York.  It  is  doing  a  noble  work 
in  training  teachers  in  Bible  knowledge  and  thorough 
methods  of  Bible  study.  Dr.  White  is  a  genius  in  this 
direction.  It  publishes  the  Bible  Record  for  ten  months 
in  the  year,  and  has  for  its  goal  "  a  Bible  Teachers  Col- 
lege, which  shall  open  its  doors  to  all  who  can  secure 
enough  leisure  to  study  the  Bible  for  three  months,  for  a 
year,  for  two  years.  The  college  must  have  the  most 
eminent  scholars,  the  most  aggressive  Christian  workers, 
the  most  devout  and  spiritual  assistants  upon  its  teaching 
staff.  It  must  have  a  library  of  the  best  books  upon  the 
Bible,  and  upon  all  phases  of  its  history  and  influence.     It 


GROWING   INTEREST   IN   BIBLE   STUDY  l9l 

must  own  the  best  maps  and  the  best  pictures  of  the 
Orient,  in  which  the  Bible  was  written.  It  deserves  and 
could  wisely  and  profitably  use  buildings  as  imposing  as 
those  in  which  the  Teachers  College  now  does  its  inspir- 
ing work." 

VI.  Extension  courses  for  lay  students  are  given  by  the 
Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York,  under  the  direc- 
torship of  Professor  Richard  M.  Hodge.  Courses  on  Bible 
study  and  religious  education  are  given  at  the  seminary, 
at  the  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  and  at 
churches.  A  syllabus  of  Religious  Education,  of  Old  Tes- 
tament Literature,  of  The  Teaching  of  Jesus,  and  of  The 
Prophets  of  Israel,  are  issued  by  the  department. 

VII.  The  International  Bible  Reading  Association  was 
originated  in  1882,  and  the  honorary  secretary,  Mr. 
Charles  Waters,  of  56  Old  Bailey,  London,  suggested  the 
plan  to  a  committee  of  the  Sunday  School  Union,  and 
ever  since  has  promoted  it  with  unflagging  energy  and 
enthusiasm. 

The  object  is  to  promote  the  constant  use  of  God's 
Word  as  a  daily  companion  and  guide,  through  Bible 
reading  in  the  home,  by  providing  a  method  whereby  the 
reading  may  be  rendered  intelligent  and  profitable.  It 
also  aims  to  help  teachers  and  scholars  in  their  study 
of  the  Sunday  School  lesson.  It  presents  a  series  of 
daily  readings  on  the  subjects  of  the  International 
Lessons. 

Members  include  all  ages  and  classes  without  limit,  the 
conditions  being  an  intention  to  read  the  portions  regu- 
larly, and  the  payment  of  three  cents  annual  membership 
subscription  if  connected  with  a  branch,  or  six  cents  if 
not.     Members  are  supplied  monthly  with  leaflets  con- 


192  THE   FRONT   LINE 

taining  brief  "hints  "  on  the  daily  readings,  and  quarterly, 
with  an  illustrated  circular  letter,  which,  with  circulars, 
etc.,  amount  to  more  than  12,000,000  a  year.  There 
were,  in  1903,  more  than  800,000  members  in  60  different 
countries.  Mr.  W.  Shaw,  Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  is 
one  of  the  honorary  secretaries. 

VIII.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  have  a 
Bible  study  department,  in  which,  according  to  the  last 
annual  report,  there  were  1693  classes.  The  secretary 
writes  me,  under  date  of  June  23,  that  "there  are  ap- 
proximately 35,000  students  in  the  Bible  classes  of  our 
city,  town,  and  railroad  associations,  and  25,000  jn  the 
Bible  classes  of  our  Student  Associations." 

IX.  The  Baraca  Movement  was  started  at  Syracuse, 
New  York,  in  1890,  by  Mr.  M.  H.  Hudson,  a  business  man 
of  that  city,  with  a  class  of  18  young  men,  and  the  desire 
to  bring  young  men  under  the  influence  of  Bible  study. 
Its  platform  is  "  young  men  at  work  for  young  men,  all 
standing  by  the  Bible  and  Bible  School." 

"We  aim  in  our  organization  to  make  each  man  feel 
that  it's  his  class,  not  the  property  of  the  teacher.  We 
try  to  arouse  a  strong  class  spirit,  an  enthusiasm  for  the 
Baraca,  and  pride  in  its  success." 

The  movement  has  spread  rapidly  till  there  are  now 
1200  classes,  numbering  30,000  members,  in  every  state  of 
the  Union,  in  England,  and  in  Canada.  And  Mr.  Hud- 
son writes  me  that  145  men  have  joined  his  Church  from 
his  class  alone. 

Add  to  these,  the  American  Institute  of  Sacred  Litera- 
ture, centred  at  the  University  of  Chicago,  with  branches 
in  other  cities,  publishing  books  and  reaching  a  large 
number  of  young  people. 


GROWING    INTEREST   IN   BIBLE   STUDY  193 

Correspondence  Schools,  of  which  that  by  the  American 
Institute  of  Sacred  Literature,  and  the  Moody  Institute  in 
Chicago,  are  among  the  leading  ones,  are  giving  training 
courses  for  Sunday  School  teachers  through  instruction 
by  correspondence. 

The  Christian  Endeavor  and  other  Young  People's  Unions 
and  Leagues,  with  their  2,700,000  young  people  pledged 
to  read  the  Bible  and  aided  in  its  study. 

Summer  Assemblies,  of  which  there  are  many  all  over 
the  country. 

Summer  Schools  for  Bible  study  for  ministers  and  teach- 
ers, held  at  university  centres  and  at  theological  semina- 
ries. 

Courses  of  Lectures  on  the  Bible,  such  as  were  given 
Saturday  mornings  by  the  Twentieth  Century  Club  of 
Boston  to  crowded  audiences  in  the  Colonial  Theatre;  be- 
sides lectures,  readings,  and  class  lessons  in  their  own 
rooms  in  the  afternoon. 

Courses  of  Lectures  in  Individual  Churches,  and  Bible 
Institutes,  and  great  Teachers'  Meetings  in  cities  and 
towns. 

All  these  are  but  a  portion  of  the  organizations  working 
for  more  and  better  Bible  study. 

Now  who  can  look  with  open  eyes  upon  these  signs  of  a 
fresh  and  increasing  interest  in  Bible  study,  which  recall  the 
great  outburst  of  Bible  reading  in  the  times  of  the  Refor- 
mation, both  in  Germany  and  England,  — and  yet  talk 
of  "  the  decline  of  Bible  study  " !  We  are  reminded  of  the 
letter  Chaplain  McCabe  once  sent  to  Colonel  Ingersoll :  — 

"Dear  Colonel,  — Ten  years  ago  you  made  the 
following  prediction:  'Ten  years  from  this  time  two 
theatres  will  be  built  for  one  church.'     The  time  is  up. 


194  THE   FRONT   LINE 

The  Methodists  are  now  building  four  churches  every 
day,  —  one  every  six  hours.  Please  venture  upon  another 
prediction  for  the  year." 

"  Lo  !  there  breaks  a  yet  more  glorious  day; 
The  saints  triumphant  rise  in  bright  array ; 
The  King  of  Glory  passes  on  His  way! 
From  earth's  wide  bounds,  from  ocean's  farthest  coast, 
Thro'  gates  of  pearl  streams  in  the  countless  host. 
Singing  to  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost, 
*  Hallelujah!'" 


IX 

METHODS  OF  BIBLE  STUDY  FOR  THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL 

There  is  one  best  purpose  in  studying  the  Bible,  the 
one  for  which  John  wrote  his  Gospel,  —  "that  ye  may 
believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  ;  and 
that  believing  ye  may  have  life  in  His  name."  But  there 
is  not  one  best  way  of  studying  the  Bible ;  there  are  many 
best  ways,  all  of  them  aids  in  reaching  the  supreme  end ; 
just  as  there  are  many  ways  of  studying  nature,  —  the 
scientist's  way,  the  poet's  way,  the  artist's  way,  the 
farmer's  way,  and  the  way  "  that  leads  through  nature  up 
to  nature's  God."  There  is  a  tendency  for  each  age  to  have 
its  own  favorite  way,  and  to  claim  that  it  is  the  way,  the 
best  way  ;  like  the  different  animals  in  Professor  Amos  R. 
Wells's  bright  fable  of  their  convention  to  choose  a  king: 

"  They  held  a  great  meeting  a  king  to  select, 

And  the  kangaroo  rose  in  a  dignified  way, 
And  said,  '  I'm  the  one  you  should  surely  elect, 

For  I  can  outleap  every  beast  here  to-day.' 
Said  the  eagle,  '  How  high  can  you  climb  toward  the  sky  ? ' 

Said  the  nightingale,  '  Favor  us,  please,  with  a  song ! ' 
Said  the  hawk,  '  Let  us  measure  our  powers  of  eye ! ' 

Said  the  lion,  '  Come,  wrestle,  and  prove  you  are  strong ! ' 
But  the  kangaroo  said,  '  It  would  surely  be  best, 
In  our  choice  of  a  king,  to  make  leaping  the  test ! '  " 

So  each  method  of  Bible  study  presents  its  claim.     One 
can  do  this ;  another  can  do  that.     One  says.  Mine  is  the 

195 


196  THE   FRONT    LINE 

royal  way  of  studying  the  Bible ;  another  declares,  Mine 
is  the  "open  sesame"  to  the  divine  treasure-house.  But 
many  methods  are  good.  They  are  all  kings,  all  "  open 
sesames."  Each  one  contributes  its  share  to  the  knowl- 
edge and  power  of  the  Word.  Each  one  has  its  share  in 
building  the  spiritual  temple.  And  the  temple  can  be 
perfected  only  by  the  correlation  and  mutual  help  of  all. 


Part  I 

THE   HISTORIC   METHOD   OF  BIBLE   STUDY   AND   THE 
HIGHER    CRITICISM 

Although  this  method  is  old,  and  is  in  some  form  used 
by  all  scholars,  yet  within  a  few  years  its  newer  forms 
and  proclaimed  results  have  been  brought  into  such 
prominence  in  this  country,  accepted  by  so  many,  opposed 
by  so  many,  explained  in  learned  volumes,  exploited  in 
popular  literature,  taught  in  the  colleges,  so  urged  or  con- 
demned in  public  and  in  private,  that  they  have  knocked 
at  the  door  of  the  Sunday  School.  And  the  question 
must  be  decided  by  Sunday  School  teachers,  —  what  shall 
be  their  attitude  towards  the  historic  study  of  the  Bible 
and  its  daughter  the  Higher  Criticism,  and  what  use  can 
they  make  of  it  in  teaching  their  classes  ? 

Not  many  years  ago  in  the  town  of  Hamath  in  Northern 
Syria  was  discovered  a  sacred  stone  with  Hittite  inscrip- 
tions throwing  light  upon  that  ancient  race  referred  to  in 
Genesis,  but  for  many  centuries  unknown  to  history,  inso- 
much that  many  believed  that  the  Bible  story  of  the  Hittites 
was  legendary.  This  stone  was  with  great  difficulty  pur- 
chased for  a  museum,  and  was  being  carted  away  to  the 


METHODS   OF   BIBLE   STUDY  197 

Euphrates  to  be  shipped,  when  there  occurred  an  unusual 
display  of  November  meteors.  This  frightened  the  people 
of  Hamath  ;  they  thought  that  God  was  angry  with  them 
for  selling  the  sacred  stone,  and  that  he  was  throwing  the 
stars  about  in  his  wrath.  They  sent  a  deputation  after 
the  stone  and  demanded  its  return.  The  old  Turk  who 
had  it  in  charge,  after  a  long  conference,  told  them  that 
they  had  completely  misunderstood  the  meaning  of  the 
falling  stars;  that  so  far  from  expressing  God's  anger, 
they  meant,  on  the  contrary,  that  God  was  so  glad  on 
account  of  their  self-denial  in  yielding  the  stone  to 
science  that  he  was  setting  off  fireworks  in  heaven   for 

joy- 

This  is  a  pretty  fair  picture  of  the  present  situation  in 
regard  to  the  Higher  Criticism.  Men  of  the  more  moder- 
ate, constructive,  and  devotional  school  of  the  higher 
critics,  of  which  Professor  George  Adam  Smith  is  a  fair 
representative,  believe  most  sincerely  that  they  are  doing 
a  great  service  to  God  and  to  the  Bible.  They  believe 
that  they  have  removed  what  Goldwin  Smith  calls  "  Chris- 
tianity's millstone,  fertile  in  casuistry,  bigotry,  and  cruel 
oppression  " ;  that  they  have  saved  many  from  the  disas- 
ter of  being  unable  to  reconcile  a  belief  in  the  goodness 
of  God  with  what  they  term  "  the  rigorous  laws,"  "  the 
pitiless  tempers,"  and  "  the  atrocities  which  are  narrated 
by  the  Old  Testament  histories,  and  sanctioned  by  its 
laws." 

Professor  George  Adam  Smith  says :  "  I  know  no  sad- 
der tragedy  than  this  innumerably  repeated  one,  nor  any 
service  which  it  were  better  worth  doing  than  the  attempt 
to  help  men  out  of  its  perplexities.  The  most  advanced 
modern  criticism   provides   grounds  for   the   proof   of  a 


198  THE   FRONT    LINE 

Divine  Revelation  in  the  Old  Testament  at  least  more 
firm  than  those  on  which  the  older  apologetic  used  to 
rely."  Professor  Budde,  one  of  the  most  eminent  of 
German  critics,  writes  to  Professor  Smith  that  as  for 
himself  his  "  belief  in  a  genuine  revelation  of  God  in 
the  Old  Testament  remains  rock-fast."  Even  Professor 
Cheyne  protests  that  "  Our  ambition  as  interpreters  is 
nothing  less  than  to  get  to  the  heart  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment ;  .  .  .  that  our  critical  freedom  is  not  the  freedom 
of  scepticism,  but  of  a  purified  faith ;  .  .  .  tliat  faith,  as 
the  Oxford  of  to-day  knows  full  well,  is  the  jewel  of  the 
soul  alike  to  the  critic  and  to  the  simple-minded  Chris- 
tian." 

I  quote  these  words  of  the  higher  critics,  not  as  endors- 
ing all  the  results  to  which  they  have  come  in  respect  to 
the  Bible,  for  I  differ  decidedly  from  many  of  their  views, 
but  that  all  may  recognize  them  not  only  as  great  schol- 
ars but  as  devoted  Christian  men  of  deep  piety  and  rever- 
ence for  the  Scriptures,  as  earnest  seekers  after  the  truth, 
and  fellow-laborers  for  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God ; 
in  order  that  all  personalities  may  be  eliminated,  and  the 
only  questions  with  all  shall  be.  What  is  true  ?  and  What 
is  the  best  way  to  promote  the  study  and  the  influence  of 
the  Word  of  God? 

But  when  the  results  claimed  by  even  the  moderate 
higher  critics  are  plainly  stated,  they  strike  the  ordinary 
believer  in  the  truth  of  the  Bible  with  a  shock.  There  is 
a  strong  feeling  that  many  of  the  claimed  results  are  not 
true,  that  the  critics'  "  reasoning  can  be  shown  to  be  un- 
scientific and  misleading  ;  that,  almost  without  limit,  they 
assume,  as  fundamental  facts,  things  which  are  not  facts, 
but   theories."     And   that   even    their   theories   may   be 


METHODS   OF   BIBLE   STUDY  199 

wrong;  that  of  possible*conjectures  and  inferences  from 
facts  they  have  chosen  certain  ones  from  among  others 
equally  good  and  treated  them  as  facts.  Indeed,  most  of 
the  contradictions  spoken  of  are  not  in  the  Bible  as  it 
stands,  but  are  created  by  the  working  theories  of  the 
critics,  who  bid  us  ''  beware  of  the  siren  voice  of  the  har- 
monizer."  And  the  scheme  seems  to  be  full  of  inferences, 
which  are  not  borne  out  as  necessarily  true  by  well-known 
facts  in  life,  in  literature,  and  in  history,  which  can  be 
tested,  and  where  "  the  voice  of  the  harmonizer  "  must  be 
heard. 

By  the  prevalent  school  of  higher  critics,  the  earlier 
books  of  the  Bible  are  not  regarded  as  true  history,  but 
as  a  "framework  woven  from  the  raw  material  of  myth 
and  legend,"  as  "an  Epic  of  Humanity."  ^ 

1  They  say  that  "  on  the  present  evidence  it  is  impossible  to  be  sure  of 
more  than  that." 

"The  narratives  of  the  patriarchs  contain  a  substratum  of  actual  per- 
sonal history."  The  transactions  betv^een  individuals,  such  as  Jacob, 
Esau,  Israel,  may  often  most  naturally  be  explained  as  transactions 
between  tribes.  The  first  chapter  of  Genesis  is  not  a  revelation  but  a 
poem  or  legend.  All  have  been  written  at  a  late  date,  and  are  "full 
of  conceptions  of  a  later  date." 

According  to  Professor  Driver,  in  the  words  of  the  Sunday  School 
Times,  "it  is  an  essential  and  inseparable  part  of  the  theory  advocated 
in  his  volumes  that  the  earlier  strata  of  the  history  recorded  in  the  Old 
Testament  are  a  mixture  of  fact  and  legend,  while  in  the  later  strata 
the  history  has  been  systematically  falsified,  either  through  ignorance 
or  with  the  intent  to  deceive,  in  the  interest  of  the  political  and  religious 
opinions  of  their  authors.  This  applies,  not  to  the  books  of  Chronicles 
alone,  but  to  every  part  of  the  Old  Testament  that  contains  statements  of 
historical  fact.  And  this  theoretical  presupposition  is  consistently  ac- 
companied by  the  practical  habit  of  finding  contradictions  and  other 
incredible  statements  everywhere,  even  at  the  cost  of  forced  and  unnatural 
interpretation." 

Jehovah,  according  to  their  theory,   was  a  tribal  God  at  first,  and 


200  THE   FKONT   LINE 

Now  it  is  not  strange  that  not  only  the  general  body  of 
Christians,  but  scholars  equal  in  scholarship  to  these 
others,  familiar  with  the  historic  study  of  the  Bible,  with 
minds  equally  open  to  receive  light  from  all  sources,  should 
feel  that  these  teachings  are  undermining  the  very  foun- 
dations of  belief  in  God's  Word  ;  that  much  power  is  lost, 
that  the  glory  of  divine  revelation  is  dimmed,  and  that 
these  views  have  been  the  means  of  undermining  the 
faith  of  some  in  the  Word  of  God,  as  even  Professor 
Nash  in  his  History  of  the  Higher  Criticism  sorrowfully 
acknowledges,  though  he  believes  that  their  faith  in 
the  end  will  be  built  on  a  rock-foundation  instead  of  on 
sand. 

Professor  Marvin  R.  Vincent,  in  a  little  brochure  called 
That  Monster  The  Higher  Critic^  illustrates  one  aspect  of 
the  popular  attitude  toward  biblical  criticism  by  the 
"  story  of  a  wag  who  laid  a  wager  that  he  would  break 
up  a  country  menagerie  and  circus.  Accordingly,  when 
the  rustic  crowd  had  duly  inspected  the  elephant  and  the 
hyenas,  and  were  seated  round  the  arena  eagerly  await- 
ing the  entrance  of  the  clown  and  the  bareback  rider,  he 
rushed  into  the  ring,  waving  his  hat,  and  shouting  :  — 

" '  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  save  yourselves  !  The  Gyas- 
cutus  has  broke  loose  ! ! ' 

"  Dire  was  the  panic  that  followed ;  numerous  the  bruises 
and  scratches ;  appalling  the  damage  to  bonnets  and  drap- 
eries ;  but  the  tent  was  emptied  at  last,  and  the  farmers 
and  their  wives  and  daughters  were  jogging  homeward 

monotheism  was  a  late  evolution  from  polytheism,  through  the  inspi- 
ration of  God,  which  transfigured  the  legends,  myths,  and  traditions, 
and  made  them  the  medium  of  teaching  the  great  truths  of  Divine  Reve- 
lation.    The  whole  structure  of  the  Old  Testament  is  changed. 


METHODS    OF    BIBLE   STUDY  201 

and  congratulating  each  other  on  their  escape,  when  it 
occurred  to  some  of  them  to  ask,  'What  is  a  gyascutus, 
anyway  ? '  ^ 

"  Upon  the  settled  faith  and  tranquil  content  of  a  large 
body  of  Christians  breaks  the  cry,  '  The  higher  criticism 
has  broken  loose ! '  It  is  charging,  head  on,  with  smoking 
nostrils,  against  the  Bible  !  It  means  destruction  to  the 
faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints. 

"  Meanwhile  few  stop  to  ask,  '  What  is  higher  criticism, 
anyway?'  The  majority  run;  that  is,  they  evade  the 
question  with  some  such  irrelevant  platitude  as  '  The  old 
Bible  is  good  enough  for  me.' " 

Now,  there  is  no  panic  in  the  Church  about  the  Higher 
Criticism.  But  there  is  a  hesitation  about  receiving 
such  revolutionary  ideas,  without  the  most  positive  proof. 
There  is  a  questioning  whether  "  the  present  is  but  a  new 
gust  of  the  old  tempest."  There  is  a  determination  to 
wait  awhile,  in  a  time  when  dead  theories,  scientific  far 
more  even  than  theological,  are  strewn  thick  along  the 
path  of  Progress. 

There  is  an  intention  to  search  out  the  truth  by  equal 
scholarship,  equal  scientific  research,  equally  open  minds, 
and  learn  whether  there  may  not  be  found  truer  inferences 
from  the  facts,  a  wider  horizon,  an  interpretation  which 
will  embody  the  good,  and  avoid  the  dangers,  of  both 
views.  In  a  word,  whether  the  Higher  Criticism  is  an 
imaginary   monster,    or   an   angel   with    healing    in    his 

1  Professor  Vincent  does  not  tell  us  what  a  Gyascutus  is,  but  the  Cen- 
tury Dictionary  says  that  it  is  either  a  beetle  about  an  inch  long,  or  an 
imaginary  animal  of  tremendous  size,  with  two  short  legs  on  one  side  and 
two  long  ones  on  the  other,  adapted  to  feeding  on  the  side  of  a  very  steep 
mountain.     Compare  Poe's  story  of  the  Sphynx. 


202  THE   FRONT    LINE 

wings;  or  whether  there  will  emerge  a  human  saint, 
better  adapted  than  an  angel  to  be  the  divine  instrument 
in  transforming  the  world  into  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
For  the  particular  theories  of  which  we  have  been  speak- 
ing are  but  a  small  part  of  the  work  the  Higher  Criticism 
is  doing. 

Thus  the  present  situation  reminds  us  of  the  gathering 
to  celebrate  the  laying  of  the  foundations  of  the  new 
Temple  by  the  returned  exiles  from  Babylon,  when 

"  All  the  people  shouted  with  a  great  shout,  when  they  praised  the 
Lord,  because  the  foundation  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  was  laid. 

"  But  many  of  the  priests  and  Levites  and  chief  of  the  fathers,  who 
were  ancient  men,  that  had  seen  the  first  house,  when  the  foundation 
of  this  house  was  laid  before  their  eyes,  wept  with  a  loud  voice ;  and 
many  shouted  aloud  for  joy  : 

"  So  that  the  people  could  not  discern  the  noise  of  the  shout  of  joy 
from  the  noise  of  the  weeping  of  the  people." 

Then  the  prophet  Haggai  came  upon  the  scene,  and 
cheered  both  parties  by  foretelling  that  though  the  new 
Temple  was  far  inferior  to  the  old,  yet  in  some  way,  un- 
realized by  either  party  and  inconceivable  at  the  time,  by 
unexpected  changes,  "  The  glory  of  this  latter  house  shall 
he  greater  than  of  the  former^  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  :  and 
in  this  place  ivill  I  give  peace^  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.'^ 

Thinking  of  ''  dogma  "  not  as  one  of  the  great  doctrines 
which  never  die,  but  rather  as  an  opinion  or  theory  about 
them,  we  would  join  with  John  Hooker :  — 

"  A  worn-out  Dogma  died ;  around  its  bed 
Its  votaries  wept  as  if  all  Truth  were  dead. 
But  heaven-born  Truth  is  an  immortal  thing ; 
Hark  how  its  lieges  give  it  welcoming : 
'  The  King  is  dead  —  long  live  the  King  ! '  " 


METHODS    OF    BIBLE   STUDY  203 

Now  the  teacher  who  has  come  in  contact  with  the 
modern  views  cannot  be  indifferent  as  to  which  school 
is  right,  and  how  far  each  is  right.  By  his  birthright  as 
a  Christian  he  wants  the  truth,  ''  though  the  sky  should 
fall,  sun,  moon,  and  stars  and  all."  In  no  case  is  there 
danger  that  the  Bible  will  be  destroyed,  however  much 
individuals  may  suffer.  Divine  Revelation  will  not  be 
taken  away.  Not  one  of  the  great  truths  of  the  Gospel, 
their  form  of.  statement  purified  and  brightened  by  the 
conflicts  of  the  ages,  will  perish.  Either  the  theories  will 
die,  or  they  will  be  modified  into  some  helpful  form. 

And  3^et  it  does  make  a  difference  which  view  one  takes 
in  teaching  the  Old  Testament. 

On  the  one  hand,  he  will  have  an  easy  way  to  avoid 
some  moral  difficulties,  which  can  be  as  easily  avoided  in 
more  natural  ways,  but,  on  the  other,  he  loses  no  small 
power  in  his  teaching. 

A  divine  revelation,  based  on  the  spiritual  illumination 
of  legend  and  myth,  cannot  have  the  same  power  or  give 
the  same  assurance  of  faith  as  one  based  on  actual  history 
and  biographic  fact. 

It  may  be  true  that  "  if  we  realize  that  the  Bible  is  the 
story  of  the  lives  of  men  who  were  groping  after  God, 
wishing  to  find  God,  trying  to  understand  God,  and  com- 
ing in  various  degrees  to  knowledge  of  Him  and  fellowship 
with  Him,  he  will  find  many,  if  not  most,  of  his  difficulties 
about  the  interpretation  of  the  Bible  removed."  But  it 
does  make  a  vast  difference  whether  the  story  is  true  or 
not.  The  deeds,  the  victories,  of  an  imaginary  character 
cannot  have  the  same  moral  force  in  character-building 
nor  the  same  power  over  the  conscience  as  the  same  deeds 
of  faith  and  heroism  and  self-sacrifice  actually  wrought  by 


204  THE    FRONT    LINE 

real  men  like  ourselves,  and  therefore  possible  to  us,  and 
imperative  upon  us. 

The  victory  of  Jack  the  Giant  Killer  has  no  such  moral 
power  over  a  child  as  David's  faith-victory  over  Goliath. 
Shakespeare's  immortal  characters  have  power  just  as  far 
as  we  recognize  them  as  true  to  actual  life.  Not  one  of 
them  can  touch  the  true  Bible  stories  in  character-building 
power.  Jesus  Christ  as  a  mere  idealized  man,  a  picture 
of  the  imagination,  could  never  have  even  begun  to  do 
what  the  real  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  actually  coming 
from  heaven  as  bearer  of  good  tidings  from  God,  and 
actually  giving  His  life  in  loving  atonement  for  the  sins 
of  man,  has  wrought  in  this  world.  A  "  human  Christ " 
has  always  been  a  failure.  A  providential  guidance  of 
persons  or  of  nations  shown  in  a  history  that  is  largely 
legendary,  although  "immortal  with  truthfulness  to  the 
realities  of  human  nature  and  of  God's  education  of 
mankind,"  cannot  have  the  teaching  power  of  a  true 
story  of  the  actual  education  of  mankind  wrought  out 
by  God. 

Professor  George  Adam  Smith  says  that  Butler,  Foster, 
Maurice,  Kingsley,  Newman,  Robertson  of  Brighton, 
Candlish,  Arnot,  Spurgeon,  and  Beecher  have  all  used 
the  Old  Testament  chiefly  for  its  characters.  It  was  not 
the  miracles  of  Old  Testament  history  nor  the  national 
events  upon  which  the  preaching  of  our  fathers  fed  and 
grew  strong,  but  the  personal  elements ;  the  development 
of  character,  the  moral  struggles,  checks,  catastrophes, 
and  recoveries  in  which  so  many  of  the  books  of  the  Old 
Testament  are  so  very  rich.  That  is  true.  But  all  these 
great  preachers  presented  those  characters  as  having  actu- 
ally lived,  as  does  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 


METHODS    OF   BIBLE   STUDY  205 

the  names  in  his  catalogue  of  the  immortal  heroes  of 
faith.  The  beautiful  legends  of  the  Knights  of  the  Round 
Table,  the  hero-tales  of  The  Light  of  Asia,  the  Sagas  of  the 
Norsemen,  helpful  and  uplifting  as  they  are,  never  had, 
and  never  can  have,  such  power  as  the  heroic  deeds  of 
actual  men  of  like  passions  with  ourselves. 

Now  what  course  shall  Sunday  School  teachers  take 
under  these  circumstances  ?  Remember  that  I  am  not 
speaking  to  specially  prepared  teachers  of  adult  classes, 
who  rightfully  discuss  more  fully  these  questions.  Nor 
am  I  speaking  to  or  for  expert  scholars,  lifelong  students 
of  the  Bible,  professors  and  scientific  investigators.  God 
speed  them  in  their  work.  It  is  not  for  me  to  imagine 
myself  competent  to  offer  any  advice  or  suggestion  to 
such  men,  whom  I  admire  and  love.  But  it  may  be  right 
for  me  to  give  the  results  of  many  years  of  study  and 
thought  and  reading  and  experience  to  the  average  teacher 
in  the  Sunday  School. 

1.  Avoid  all  personalities  and  all  slurs  upon  those  who 
differ  from  you,  and  especially  all  bitter  attacks  on  that 
which  is  not  fully  understood.  There  is  nothing  which 
hurts  a  cause  more  than  to  pour  hot  shot  into  a  man  of 
straw,  imagining  and  representing  it  to  be  the  enemy, 
who,  meanwhile,  looks  on  in  safety  and  smiles.  I  once 
heard  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  during  his  great  trial,  relate 
in  self-defence  at  one  of  his  prayer  meetings  how  he  and 
his  friend  were  mobbed  at  an  anti-slavery  meeting  in 
New  York.  He  escaped  through  a  back  entrance,  but 
the  mob  followed  him,  and,  thinking  him  in  a  certain 
house,  attacked  it  with  stones,  rotten  eggs,  and  all  man- 
ner of  missiles.  But  Mr.  Beecher  was  in  the  opposite 
house,  and  looked  upon  the  attack  witli  smiling  cheer- 


206  THE   FKONT    LIKE 

fulness.  "It  did  me  no  harm,"  he  said,  "for  I  wasn't 
there." 

Nor  is  it  wise  for  any  one  to  expose  himself  to  the 
retort  which  that  bright  book  Collections  and  Recollections 
says  that  an  English  bishop  made  to  a  man  who  boasted 
that  "he  had  only  contempt  for  Aristotle."  "One  thing 
is  certain,"  retorted  the  bishop,  "it  is  not  the  kind  of 
contempt  which  familiarity  breeds." 

2.  Be  receptive,  open-minded  to  all  truth  from  every 
source,  let  all  the  windows  of  your  soul  be  open  in  every 
direction.  The  bee  sucks  honey  from  every  flower,  even 
the  poisonous  ones.  Learn  wisdom  from  your  enemies  as 
well  as  your  friends,  for  they  may  point  out  something 
you  would  otherwise  fail  to  see.  There  is  no  impassable 
barrier  between  the  divergent  views.  There  is  no  case 
where  "one  is  infallible  and  the  other  always  right." 

Jean  Ingelow  in  one  of  her  later  poems.  The  Monitions 
of  the  Unseen^  pictures  a  faithful  and  earnest  young  min- 
ister, who  became  utterly  discouraged  at  the  seeming  fail- 
ure of  his  work  for  the  poor  and  suffering.  One  day  he 
had  a  vision  which  revealed  to  him  the  cause  of  his 
failure.  He  had  acted  upon  the  theory  that  the  whole 
world  was  sharply  divided  into  two  distinct  classes,  —  on 
the  one  hand  those  that  helped,  on  the  other  those  who 
needed  help,  while,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  all  needed  to  help 
and  all  needed  to  be  helped. 

To  imagine  that  there  is  a  sharp  division,  as  some  have 
claimed,  between  the  more  conservative  and  the  more 
radical  school,  that  there  is  no  "  perfect  day  in  June  "  be- 
tween arctic  winter  and  tropic  summer  is  simply  to  invite 
failure,  and  to  defy  facts. 

Every  one  needs  for  his  spiritual  vision  the  magical 


METHODS    OF    BIBLE   STUDY  207 

qualities  of  Mr.  Titbottom's  Spectacles  described  in 
Prue  and  I.  When  their  owner  looked  through  these 
glasses  at  people,  he  ceased  to  see  them  as  they  ordina- 
rily appeared  on  the  street;  he  saw  their  real  essential 
character.  Wonderful  were  the  revelations  that  were 
made.i 

Blessed  are  those  who  see  with  such  vision  the  truths 
that  lie  hidden  beneath  unfavorable  circumstances;  who 
take  the  Court  witnesses'  oath,  and  see  "the  truth,  the 
whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth." 

3.  Distinguish  between  the  Historic  Method  and  the 
things  which  various  persons  claim  as  the  results  of  the 
Method.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  ideas  which  usually  pres- 
ent themselves  to  the  mind  when  the  Higher  Criticism  is 
mentioned  are  really  but  a  portion  of  what  the  Higher 
Criticism  has  done  for  the  study  of  the  Bible. 

The  Historic  method  has  come  to  stay,  rather  in  some 
measure  it  has  always  been  with  us,  because  it  is  a  right 
method,  full  of  enlightening  results. 

When  Madame  Roland  stood  upon   the   guillotine   in 

1  He  looked  at  one  man  and  saw  nothing  but  a  ledger.  Another  was 
simply  a  billiard  cue,  another  a  bank  bill,  another  a  great  hog,  or  a 
wolf,  or  a  vulgar  fraction.  On  the  other  hand,  he  saw  the  good  that 
others  failed  to  see.  One  of  his  school  teachers  was  a  deep  well  of  living 
water  in  which  he  saw  the  stars.  Another  was  a  tropical  garden  full  of 
fruits  and  flowers.  In  one  woman's  heart  lay  concealed  in  the  depth  of 
character  great  excellences  like  pearls  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  little  sus- 
pected by  most,  but  perhaps  love  is  nothing  else  than  the  sight  of  them  by 
one  person.  Another,  called  an  old  maid,  was  a  white  lily,  fresh,  luminous, 
and  fragrant  still.  Another's  nature  was  a  tropic  in  which  the  sun  shone, 
and  birds  sang,  and  flowers  bloomed  forever.  His  wrinkled  grandmother 
appeared  as  a  Madonna,  "  and  I  have  yet  heard  of  no  queen,  no  belle,  no 
imperial  beauty  whom  in  grace,  and  brilliancy,  and  persuasive  courtesy 
she  might  not  have  surpassed." 


208  THE   FRONT   LINE 

what  is  now  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  in  Paris,  she  looked 
at  the  statue  of  Liberty,  which  stood  where  now  stands 
the  Egyptian  Obelisk,  and  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  Liberty,  how 
many  crimes  have  been  committed  in  thy  name!  "  Then 
the  axe  fell,  and  another  crime  was  committed  in  the  name 
of  Liberty.  But  Liberty  is  just  as  sweet  and  precious,  to 
be  longed  for  and  fought  for,  as  if  no  crimes  had  been 
committed  in  her  name. 

So  the  Historic  method  is  just  as  good,  as  helpful,  as 
enlightening,  as  if  no  mistake,  no  false  inference,  had  been 
made  in  its  name. 

Some  wise  writer  warns  us  "  not  to  throw  away  the  baby 
with  the  water  in  which  it  has  been  washed." 

To  me  the  new  emphasis  on  the  Historic  method  has 
been  a  real  blessing.  The  words  and  messages  receive  a 
new  meaning  from  their  historic  setting.  The  books  of 
the  prophets  have  a  new  meaning  when  we  read  them  not 
as  isolated  themes,  but  as  sermons  and  orations  spoken  in 
times  of  great  need  in  order  to  accompli'sh  great  purposes. 
Every  far  outlook  into  the  future  shines  clearer  on  account 
of  its  setting  in  the  present,  and  becomes  more  full  of 
instruction  for  all  lands,  and  of  hope  for  all  time.  Proph- 
ecy is  thus  seen  to  be,  in  the  words  of  the  late  Professor 
Davidson,  "  the  philosophy  of  history.  Prophecy  is  his- 
tory become  conscious,  history  expressing  its  own  mean- 
ing. But  prophecy  is  not  the  philosophy  of  ordinary,  but 
of  Jewish  history.  Now  Jewish  history  consisted  of  two 
factors,  —  human  activity,  as  in  ordinary  history,  and  a 
supernatural  divine  guidance  ;  and  therefore  prophecy 
must  partake  of  two  factors  also,  human  insight  and 
divine  illumination." 

In  like  manner  the  epistles  are  transfigured  with  fresh 


METHODS    OF   BIBLE    STUDY  209 

meaning.  The  history,  on  the  other  hand,  is  made  more 
clear,  more  vivid,  more  instructive  by  means  of  the  proph- 
ets and  epistles.  The  whole  Bible  is  thus  made  more  ef- 
fective for  teaching,  and  more  attractive  to  young  and  old. 

4.  The  Sunday  School  teacher  should  dwell  in  the 
atmosphere  of  the  devotional,  character-forming,  life- 
guiding  elements  of  the  Scripture.  All  teachers,  higher 
critics  or  not,  advocate  this.  There  are  just  as  distinct 
atmospheres  of  Bible  study  as  there  are  in  families  and 
churches,  which  form  the  most  important  part  of  their 
influence  over  others. 

Every  one  recognizes  that  there  are  distinct  atmospheres 
in  the  study  of  literature.  The  discussion  of  the  questions 
whether  Bacon  or  Shakespeare  wrote  the  dramas  attrib- 
uted to  Shakespeare;  whether  one  author  or  many  wrote 
the  Iliad  or  the  tales  gradually  grew,  and  were  moulded 
into  their  present  form  by  the  genius  of  Homer,  or  whether 
the  author  was  Homer  or  another  man  by  the  name  of 
Homer,  as  some  critics  claim  that  the  Gospel  of  John  was 
not  written  by  the  apostle  John,  but  by  another  man  by 
the  name  of  John  —  all  these  and  similar  discussions 
belong  to  an  entirely  different  literary  atmosphere  from 
that  created  by  the  study  of  Homer  and  Shakespeare  as 
literature. 

So  in  Bible  study  there  are  several  distinct  atmospheres 
—  an  atmosphere  of  criticism,  a  literary  atmosphere,  a  de- 
votional atmosphere,  an  atmosphere  of  conscience  and  of 
right  living.  "  A  work  of  art  is  an  object  seen  through 
a  temperament,"  says  some  one.  Our  view  of  the  Bible 
is  usually  seen  through  a  temperament.  No  one  really 
understands  the  positions  of  the  higher  critics  till  he  has 
dwelt  in  their  atmosphere  for  a  time.     There  is  a  literary 


210  THE    FRONT    LINE 

atmosphere  as  unrecognized  by  many  as  the  bright  skies 
beyond  the  clouds.  There  is  an  atmosphere  that  belongs 
to  the  religious  life,  inspiring,  invigorating,  converting, 
transforming. 

And  as  this  is  the  influential  atmosphere  of  the  teacher's 
own  life,  of  every  Christian's  life,  as  it  is  that  in  which  the 
main  work  of  the  Sunday  School  as  of  the  church  is  to  be 
done,  it  is  necessary  that  the  Sunday  School  teacher  should 
live  and  move  and  have  his  being  there  ;  while  he  visits 
and  explores  the  others  as  thoroughly  as  possible  chiefly 
that  he  may  clarify,  invigorate,  make  life-giving  the 
atmosphere  in  which  he  teaches  and  lives. 

I  once  asked  an  agent  of  the  Tiff  any  s  why  they,  with 
all  their  skill  and  modern  inventions,  did  not  put  into 
their  windows  such  beautiful  colors  as  we  find  in  some  of 
the  old  cathedrals,  the  glory  of  which,  when  once  seen, 
will  never  fade  from  the  memory.  He  said  that  only  age 
could  give  such  charm  to  the  colors  ;  that  the  dust  was 
an  inch  thick  on  some  of  these  windows.  An  English 
rector  desiring  to  renovate  his  church  had  the  dust 
cleaned  from  its  windows,  with  the  result  that  the  tone 
of  their  beauty  was  ruined. 

There  are  some  great  essential  truths,  tried  and  tested 
by  centuries  of  experience,  to  which  the  dust  of  the  ages 
gives  beauty  and  power,  and  however  we  change,  the 
philosophy  which  underlies  them,  and  the  words  in  which 
they  are  expressed  are  as  fixed  and  eternal  as  the  soul 
which  outlasts  the  stars. 

The  atmosphere  of  these  is  the  atmosphere  of  the 
Sunday  School. 

5.  The  teacher  should  recognize  that  many  of  the  results 
claimed  as  settled  with  a  certain  unanimity  by  one  school 


METHODS    OF   BIBLE   STUDY  211 

of  the  higher  critics  are  still  under  fire.  The  conflict  of 
ideas,  "the  battle  of  the  books,"  is  not  ended. ^  There 
are  questions  on  each  side  that  have  not  yet  been  an- 
swered by  the  other.  There  are  difficulties  not  yet 
solved.  New  books  are  coming  out  every  year.  One  of 
the  best  and  best  known  of  all  the  higher  critics  said  to 
me  not  long  ago  that  it  was  only  the  second-rate  critics 
who  were  so  infallibly  sure  ;  and  another  agreed  with  me 
when  in  a  discussion  I  said  that  no  one  could  possibly  tell 
just  what  position  would  be  taken  ten  years  from  now,  or 
what  new  light  might  rise  above  the  horizon. 

It  is  repeatedly  said  that  we  ought  not  to  teach  the 
children  as  true  those  things  they  will  have  to  unlearn  ten 
years  later.  Exactly.  But  it  is  well  to  be  sure  what 
things,  traditional  or  critical,  will  not  change  in  ten  years. 
Teach  what  you  believe  to  be  true  and  adapted  to  the 
children's  needs.  But  do  not  teach  as  true  what  is  doubt- 
ful, nor  as  settled  what  is  still  in  the  conflict.  Whatever 
you  teach  on  some  of  these  questions  will  be  likely  to 
meet  with  some  changes  in  ten  years  ;  but  that  will  not 
injure  the  children  of  the  present  any  more  than  similar 

1  Professor  Robert  W.  Rogers,  the  Assyriologist,  speaking  of  Professor 
Delitzsch's  Babel  und-Bihel  writes  from  Berlin:  "To  those  who  are 
unable  to  keep  close  watch  upon  German  thought  it  would  be  impossible 
to  imagine  the  effect  produced  by  these  two  lectures.  The  first  lecture 
contained  only  thirty  pages,  the  second  but  twenty-nine.  In  reply  to 
these  brief  papers  there  had  appeared  up  to  a  few  weeks  ago  (May,  1904) 
no  less  than  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty  small  articles,  more 
than  three  hundred  lengthy  papers  and  twenty-eight  brochures,  some  big 
enough  to  be  reckoned  as  books,  and  this  in  Germany  alone.  In  addition 
to  these,  all  of  which  were  more  or  less  valuable,  there  were  published 
many  thousands  of  worthless  performances.  Let  this  stand  as  a  proof  of 
the  undying,  unconquerable  interest  in  the  Bible.  Let  one  man  attack  it, 
and  thousands  spring  to  its  defence." 


212  THE   FRONT   LINE 

changes   have   harmed   the   vigorous   generations  of   the 
past. 

The  conflict  of  argument  and  discussion  is  sure  to  bring 
out  more  clearly  the  real  truth,  differing  from  what  either 
side  argued  for,  or  expected.  When  Gareth  of  the  Knights 
of  the  Round  Table  met  what  seemed  to  him  the  last 
enemy  of  humanity  and  "  Through  the  dim  dawn  advanced 
the  monster,"  and  with  one  mighty  stroke  the  Knight  split 
his  skull,  out  there 

"  Issued  the  bright  face  of  a  blooming  boy 
Fresh  as  a  flower  new  born." 

So  Tennyson,  in  The  Ancient  Sage^  declares  that  faith 

"  Reels  not  in  the  storm  of  warring  words, 
She  brightens  at  the  clash  of  '  Yes  '  and  '  No,' 
She  sees  the  Best  that  glimmers  through  the  Worst, 
She  feels  the  sun  is  hid  but  for  a  night, 
She  spies  the  summer  through  the  winter  bud, 
She  tastes  the  fruit  before  the  blossom  falls. 
She  hears  the  lark  within  the  songless  egg^ 
She  finds  the  fountain  where  they  wailed  '  mirage.' " 

The  history  of  the  progress  of  the  church  has  been  the 
history  of  conflicts  and  discussions.  In  times  of  quiet, 
the  quiet  of  indifference,  of  neglect,  of  coldness,  or  of 
compulsory  unity,  —  the  great  doctrines,  the  institutions, 
the  teachings  of  the  Bible  have  a  tendency  to  attach  to 
themselves  various  accretions  and  imperfections  derived 
from  their  secular  surroundings,  from  the  sciences  and 
philosophies  of  the  day,  and  from  the  moral  practices  and 
trends  of  the  times,  like  the  Sabbath  rules  of  the  Pharisees 
in  the  time  of  Christ.  For  the  "  warfare  of  science  with 
theology  "  is  at  heart  chiefly  the  warfare  of  new  science  with 
old  science,  and  new  philosophies  with  old  philosophies. 


METHODS   OF   BIBLE   STUDY  213 

Plato's  description  of  the  soul  as  like  the  marine  Glaucus 
\Yho  cast  himself  into  the  sea,  and  cruised  along  the  shores 
with  the  whales,  is  not  an  altogether  unfair  picture  of 
many  of  the  Christian  teachings  and  practices  as  seen  in 
past  ages.  "  His  ancient  nature  cannot  be  easily  perceived, 
because  the  ancient  members  of  his  body  are  partly 
broken  off,  and  others  worn  away  ;  and  besides  this,  other 
things  are  grown  to  him,  such  as  shellfish,  and  seaweeds, 
and  stones."  It  is  by  conflict,  by  discussion,  by  criticism, 
that  the  doctrines  and  the  institutions  of  the  church,  yea, 
even  the  soul  itself,  become  freed  from  their  imperfections 
and  false  accretions,  and  stand  before  the  world  in  their 
true  nature. 

"  Agitation,"  said  Wendell  Phillips,  "  is  not  a  disease 
nor  a  medicine ;  it  is  the  normal  state  of  a  nation.  .  .  . 
Agitation  is  not  the  cure,  but  the  diet  of  a  free  people  ; 
not  the  homeopathic  or  allopathic  dose  to  which  a  sick  land 
has  recourse,  but  the  daily  cold  water  and  the  simple  bread, 
the  daily  diet  and  absolute  necessity,  the  manna  of  a  peo- 
ple wandering  in  the  wilderness.  ...  If  the  Alps,  piled 
in  cold  and  still  sublimity,  be  the  emblem  of  despotism, 
the  ever  restless  ocean  is  ours,  which,  girt  within  the 
eternal  laws  of  gravitation,  is  pure  only  because  never 
still." 

Freedom  of  discussion  is  the  atmosphere  wherein  truth 
thrives  with  vigor  and  gains  its  victories.  "  To  sit  on 
the  safety  valve  is  simply  to  invite  an  explosion."  Or  as 
Lord  Rosebery  once  said,  "  You  cannot  prevent  a  storm 
by  sitting  on  the  barometer."  Professor  Rogers  rightly 
holds  that  "  Protestantism  owes  its  very  existence  and 
certainly  its  dominating  power  among  men  to  its  abso- 
lutely untrammelled  study  and  exposition  of  the  Scrip- 


214  THE   FRONT   LINE 

tures.  True  Protestantism  has  never  feared  scholarship 
and  never  will.  If  scholarship  has  attacked  its  Bible,  it 
has  in  the  next  moment  supplied  for  it  a  new  and  better 
defence.  .  .  .  The  brilliant  and  learned  De  Tocqueville 
used  to  say  that  'the  cure  for  the  evils  of  democracy  is 
more  democracy,'  and  we  say  here  that  the  cure  for  the  evils 
of  this  new  Assyriology  is  more  Assyriology."  And  the 
remedy  for  any  errors  of  scholarship  is  more  scholarship. 

"  The  only  method,"  says  Professor  William  M.  Ramsay, 
"is  to  hold  fast  to  the  scientific  principle,  and  to  walk 
along  the  narrow  path  between  dangers  and  uncertainties 
on  either  hand  as  unswervingly  and  unhesitatingly  as  does 
the  pious  Mohammedan  across  Al-Sirat,  which  bridges 
with  its  spider-thread  breadth  the  chasm  between  him  and 
heaven." 

I  do  not  know  what  form  the  resultant  of  the  divergent 
views  will  take,  but  I  believe  that  the  trend  will  be  in  the 
following  direction. 

1.  That  the  Biblical  order  will  be  found  to  be  the  true 
order  ;  that  as  the  divine  revelation  of  God  as  Creator, 
and  of  a  day  set  apart  for  His  worship  stands  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Bible,  so  it  stood  at  the  beginning  of 
the  human  race  ;  that  polytheism  is  a  degeneration  from 
monotheism,  and  not  monotheism  an  evolution  from  poly- 
theism ;  that  the  Babylonian  stories  are  polytheistic  de- 
generations from  a  divine  revelation,  and  not  revelation 
a  transfigured  Babylonian  legend. 

Professor  Rogers,  in  a  late  article  on  the  New  Assyri- 
ology, speaking  of  the  Flood  stories,  writes,  "  Is  the  He- 
brew narrative  borrowed  from  the  Babylonian  story  ?  So 
many  think.  But  the  facts  before  us  seem  to  demand 
another  explanation." 


METHODS   OF    BIBLE   STUDY  215 

Professor  Delitzsch  states  in  his  Bahel  und  Bihel  that 
monotheism  existed  in  early  Babylonia,  and  that  one  of 
the  Babylonian  gods  was  Jahve,  the  Hebrew  Jehovah. 

2.  The  history  of  mankind  has  been  the  history  of  an 
evolution  or  development,  with  God  in  it  all  and  behind  it 
all.  If  early  men  were  savages  in  outward  culture  and 
knowledge,  they  were  at  least  "savages  in  training  for 
angels,"  and  in  training  by  God  their  heavenly  Father. 

Evolution  does  not  exclude  God's  personal  action  in 
providence  or  in  miracle.  In  connection  with  a  discus- 
sion on  this  point  I  asked  a  most  distinguished  professor 
of  biology  if  the  introduction  of  the  personal  will  of 
Darwin  in  the  evolution  of  doves,  or  the  personal  will  of 
breeders  in  the  swift  evolution  of  better  horses,  or  of  gar- 
deners in  the  evolution  of  fruits  and  flowers,  was  contrary 
to  the  doctrine  of  evolution.  He  replied  that  it  was  not. 
Then  I  asked.  Is  the  teaching  that  God  has  in  the  past, 
or  does  now,  put  his  personal  will  into  the  evolution  of 
the  world  and  of  man,  exactly  as  his  children  are  doing 
every  day  in  their  small  way,  — would  this  be  contrary  to 
scientific  evolution  ?     The  reply  was,  Not  at  all. 

This  is  the  way  we  read  the  biblical  story  of  mankind. 
It  is  the  story  of  an  evolution  according  to  God's  own 
laws  always  acting,  but  with  an  occasional  putting  of  his 
personal  will  into  the  chain  of  events,  and  doing  what 
would  not  have  come  to  pass  without  that  intervention 
and  change.  This  seems  to  me  the  only  tenable  definition 
of  a  miracle.  And  I  cannot  see  how  in  any  other  way 
God  can  make  himself  known  as  a  personal  God  above 
nature,  as  a  father  more  real  and  helpful  than  any  earthly 
father,  except  in  this  Bible  way  ;  nor  prove  that  the  picture 
is  false  which  is  described  in  Zola's  Le  Bete  Humaine  of  a 


216  THE   FRONT   LINE 

railway  train  dragged  by  an  engine  whose  driver  has  been 
killed,  dashing  at  headlong  speed  into  the  midnight.  "  The 
train  is  the  world,  we  are  the  freight,  fate  is  the  track, 
death  is  the  darkness,  God  is  the  engineer,  —  who  is 
dead." 

3.  This  evolution,  recorded  in  the  Old  Testament  history, 
up  to  the  time  of  Christ,  is  of  the  same  kind  as  has  been  the 
evolution  of  the  race  since  the  time  of  Christ,  and  as  the 
evolution  of  every  child,  which,  according  to  a  favorite 
and  doubtless  true  theory,  is  a  repetition  of  the  evolution 
of  the  race. 

What  is  this  kind  of  evolution  ? 

The  child  does  not  evolve  the  ideas  and  the  ideals 
toward  which  he  is  being  trained.  They  are  taught  him 
from  without,  and  then,  by  a  long  series  of  struggles,  of 
ups  and  downs,  of  errors  and  failures,  of  new  light  and  new 
powers,  he  grows  up  toward  the  ideas  and  ideals,  and  also 
toward  the  capacity  of  receiving  further  revelations  and 
higher  ideals. 

Of  the  same  kind  has  been  the  evolution  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Christ.  Christians  did  not  evolve  the  Gospels,  nor  an 
ideal  Christ,  by  slow  growth  of  mind  and  character.  The 
whole  evolution  of  Christianity  has  been  under  a  revela- 
tion from  heaven  of  the  highest  truths,  of  a  perfect  char- 
acter in  Christ,  and  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It 
began  with  a  divine  revelation  of  God  and  His  commands. 
New  revelations  were  given  in  special  eras.  New  under- 
standing of  the  treasures  of  the  revelation  came  to  men 
as  they  were  able  to  receive  it ;  just  as  there  have  come 
from  the  Book  of  Nature  —  ever  the  same,  always  full  of 
unexplored  regions  and  undeveloped  resources  —  a  gradual 
revelation  of  its  powers  and  glories,  of  which  even  we  in 


METHODS   OF   BIBLE   STUDY  217 

the  twentieth  century  have  received  but  a  few  drops  from 
its  mighty  ocean. 

Its  history  has  been  one  of  conflicts,  of  slow  growth,  of 
strange  errors,  of  reactions,  of  contradictions  in  practice 
of  some  of  the  essential  principles  of  the  Gospel,  of  losing 
or  marring  parts  of  the  truth  and  of  recovering  it  again 
as  if  freshly  revealed,  of  a  zigzag  progress  often  running 
to  extremes  in  some  directions  and  then  in  others. 

At  the  same  time,  its  history  has  been  one  of  continued 
general  progress  toward  the  ideals  of  the  Gospel.  Great 
prophets  and  preachers  have  arisen  to  condemn  the  errors 
and  bring  back  the  people  to  the  Gospel ;  and  great 
religious  poets  like  David  and  his  successors,  who  have 
cherished  the  deepest  spiritual  life.  There  have  been  great 
revivals,  marvellous  victories,  new  impulses  to  righteous- 
ness, fuller  revelations,  and  clearer  views  and  truer  under- 
standing of  the  old  Revelation. 

On  the  whole,  there  has  been  a  steady  movement  toward 
the  promised  consummation  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  the 
new  heavens  and  new  earth  described  in  the  last  chapters 
of  the  Bible. 

I  have  sometimes  represented  the  evolution  by  a  diagram 
like  this  :  — 


,4t^.e^^^*' 


218  THE   FliONT   LINE 

Now  this  growth  of  Christianity,  which  is  plainly  seen 
in  the  history  we  know,  is  a  very  good  picture  of  the 
history  of  the  Jews  as  related  in  Old  Testament  history. 
And  this  fact  renders  it  probable  that  the  order  given  in 
that  history  is  the  true  order  of  the  events  themselves. 
It  relieves  us  from  most  of  the  difficulties  which  have  led 
the  Higher  Criticism  to  rearrange  the  order  of  events. 

But  we  are  still  in  the  midst  of  the  discussion,  and  all 
each  one  can  do  is  to  throw  some  little  ray  of  light  on  the 

problems. 

"  This  day  the  sound  of  battle, 

The  next  the  victor's  song." 

In  the  old  Greek  legend  of  the  founding  of  Thebes,  Cad- 
mus found  the  appointed  site  held  by  a  great  dragon 
which  he  must  slay  before  he  could  build  the  city.  Then 
he  took  the  dragon's  teeth  and  sowed  them  in  the  field 
like  wheat,  when  lo,  from  each  one  sprang  an  armed  giant. 

"  The  clods  grow  warm  and  crumble  where  he  sows, 
And  now  the  pointed  spears  advance  in  rows  ; 
Now  nodding  plumes  appear,  and  shining  crests, 
Now  the  broad  shoulders  and  the  rising  breasts ; 
O'er  all  the  field  the  breathing  harvest  swarms, 
A  growing  host,  a  crop  of  men  and  arms." 

Cadmus  found  himself  surrounded  by  a  great  army  of 
fierce  and  warlike  giants.  He  took  a  rock  and  threw  it 
among  them,  striking  one  of  them  on  the  breast.  Then 
instead  of  slaying  him  they  went  to  fighting  one  another. 
And  they  slew  one  another  till  only  one  tall  giant  re- 
mained, and  he  became  the  helper  of  Cadmus  in  carrying 
stones  for  the  walls  of  the  hundred-gated  city  of  Thebes. 
So  will  it  be  in  this  present  conflict  of  theories  and  opin- 
ions.    They  are  slaying  one  another  as  in  the  conflicts  of 


METHODS    OF    BIBLE   STUDY  219 

the  past.  The  whole  field  of  the  past  is  strewn  thick  with 
dead  theories  and  systems  and  philosophies,  scientific, 
educational,  religious.  But  in  every  period  of  conflict 
there  stands  forth  after  the  battle  some  truth  purer, 
clearer,  shining  down  the  ages  like  a  "  beautiful  tall  angel '' 
warrior,  with  a  spear  like  that  of  Milton's  Ithuriel  which 
revealed  the  true  nature  of  what  it  touched;  and  this 
resultant  truth  will  now,  as  in  the  past,  help  to  build  the 
jasper-walled  City  of  God. 


CHAPTER   X 

BIBLE   STUDY  FOR  THE   SUNDAY  SCHOOL 

Part  II 

VARIOUS   METHODS 

I.  Reading  the  Bible  through  in  Course.  —  Mr.  Pycroft, 
in  his  work  on  how  to  read  Englisli  history,  advises  his 
readers  to  gain  first  an. outline  or  skeleton  view  of  the 
whole  course  of  the  history,  and  to  learn  it  by  heart. 
Then  every  reference  to  the  history,  in  book  or  current 
literature,  and  every  study  of  details  will  immediately 
find  their  places  in  the  progress  of  events,  and  gradually 
build  up  a  well-balanced  knowledge  of  the  history ;  while 
otherwise  a  large  portion  of  one's  reading  and  study  will 
be  almost  wasted  as  disconnected  fragments,  and  have 
little  part  in  one's  intellectual  equipment. 

This  principle  is  equally  true  of  Bible  study.  The  first 
thing  to  be  done,  and  it  should  be  begun  in  childhood,  is 
to  read  the  Bible  through  from  beginning  to  end,  and  to 
repeat  this  course  all  through  life  in  order  to  keep  it  in 
the  memory ;  and  then  to  learn  by  heart  an  outline  of  the 
course  of  history  as  a  concrete  whole. 

The  result  will  be  that  all  other  forms  of  Bible  study 
will  have  a  double  value.  All  references  to  the  Bible  in 
literature  will  find  their  place  in  the  Bible  history,  recall 
and  illuminate  it  along  its  whole  course.     For  literature 

220 


BIBLE   STUDY   FOR   THE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL  221 

is  full  of  the  Bible.  Shakespeare  alone  has  more  than 
five  hundred  and  fifty  quotations,  allusions,  or  senti- 
ments  from  the  Bible ;  Tennyson  has  four  hundred  and 
sixty ;  and  Farrar  says  that  ^'  the  hundred  best  books,  the 
hundred  best  pictures,  the  hundred  greatest  strains  of 
music  are  all  in  it,  and  all  derived  from  it." 

"  And,  weary  seekers  of  the  best, 
We  come  back  laden  from  our  quest, 
To  find  that  all  the  sages  said 
Is  in  the  book  our  mothers  read." 

So  that  whosoever  is  able  to  locate  these,  and  all  the 
daily  references  to  the  Bible  in  magazines,  papers,  con- 
versations, will  in  time  have  an  illuminated  Bible. 

The  value  of  this  movement  through  the  Scriptures  is 
well  illustrated  by  President  Slocum's  words  to  the  vis- 
itors at  the  great  St.  Louis  Fair :  *^  Much  may  justly  be 
said  of  the  unwisdom  of  superficial  work  in  sight-seeing, 
as  well  as  in  the  class  room  and  laboratory,  and  there  is 
danger  of  thinking  '  a  ramble  through  a  World's  Fair  is 
an  equivalent  for  a  liberal  education.'  But  too  much 
emphasis  cannot  be  laid  on  the  value  of  such  a  ramble  to 
the  open-eyed  and  open-souled  thousands  who  have  Avaited 
for  this  event  to  gain  their  first  vital  knowledge  of  the 
way  other  workers  do  their  work." 

It  is  only  by  a  knowledge  of  the  whole  Bible,  a  knowl- 
edge possible  to  every  one,  that  the  teacher  can  do  his 
best  work.  He  cannot  teach  any  lesson  well  unless  he 
regards  it  as  part  of  a  great  whole ;  not  as  a  single  note, 
though  sweet  as  an  angel's  voice,  but  as  a  part  of  an 
anthem ;  not  as  a  single  stone,  but  as  part  of  a  temple ; 
and  unless  he  can  say  with  George  Herbert,  — 


222  THE    FRONT    LINE 

"  Oh,  that  I  knew  how  all  thy  lights  combine 
And  the  configurations  of  their  storie, 
Seeing  not  only  how  each  verse  doth  shine, 
But  all  the  constellations  in  their  glorie." 

The  teacher,  too,  without  a  knowledge  of  the  whole 
Bible,  will  miss  many  an  illustration  and  suggestion  which 
would  impress  the  truth;  and  as  one  whose  work  is  to 
cure  souls,  he  will  be  like  one  in  an  apothecary  shop 
wherein  are  medicines  for  every  disease,  who  yet  does  not 
know  what  is  in  it  or  where  to  find  the  remedy  he  needs. 

II.  The  Literary  Study  of  the  Bible.  —  Professor  Rich- 
ard Moulton,  of  Oxford  and  Chicago  Universities,  has 
made  all  Bible  readers  his  debtors  by  pressing  upon  their 
notice  the  great  number  of  literary  forms  in  which  the 
Bible  truths  are  expressed,  including  every  known  form 
of  literature,  by  showing  their  effect  upon  its  interpreta- 
tion, and  by  his  genius  in  applying  his  wide  knowledge 
of  literature  to  our  English  Bible. 

Almost  equally  with  the  modern  expansion  of  the 
historic  method  has  the  literary  study  of  the  Bible,  as 
Professor  Moulton  has  presented  it  in  his  books,  in  the 
introductions  and  arrangements  in  his  Modern  Reader  s 
Bihle^  and  most  expressively  of  all  in  his  spoken  lectures, 
been  to  me  almost  a  new  revelation. 

Consider  the  variety  of  literary  form  in  our  Bible, — 
history,  story,  biography,  autobiography,  arguments,  ora- 
tions, sermons,  conversations,  poetry  in  lyric,  dramatic, 
idyllic,  and  epic  forms,  hymns,  songs,  epistles,  parables, 
proverbs,  fables,  enigmas,  metaphors,  hyperboles,  epigrams. 
These,  written  by  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men,  are 
adapted  to  all  conditions  and  all  ages,  to  all  classes  of 
mind,  all  degrees  of  culture.     They  meet  every  need. 


BIBLE   STUDY   FOR   THE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL  223 

Moreover,  we  often  have  to  consider  the  form  of  the 
literature  before  we  can,  in  many  cases,  determine  the 
meaning  and  application. 

Every  great  essential  doctrine  of  the  Bible  is  presented 
to  us  in  a  variety  of  literary  forms,  —  in  prose  statement, 
in  story,  in  parable,  in  poetry,  in  dramatic  presentation, 
in  symbol,  in  metaphor,  and  especially  in  history  and  biog- 
raphy as  actually  lived  out  by  men  and  nations.  And 
this  is  necessary  in  order  to  guard  against  mistaken  in- 
terpretations, errors,  and  half  truths,  which  are  sure  to 
arise  from  any  single  presentation.  That  Massachusetts 
governor  who  quoted  Satan's  words  in  Job  as  divine 
truth,  would  never  have  done  so  if  he  had  realized  that 
the  book  of  Job  was  a  dramatic  poem.  The  pessimism 
in  portions  of  Ecclesiastes,  which  Omar  Khayyam  has  ex- 
aggerated, would  never  have  been  regarded  as  divinely 
authorized  if  its  literary  structure  had  been  understood. 
New  light  is  thrown  on  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  and 
some  of  its  hard  sayings  by  seeing  how  Christ  expressed 
them  in  actual  living. 

Brandeis  has  well  said  that  "  nine-tenths  of  the  serious 
controversies  which  arise  in  life  result  from  misunder- 
standing ;  result  from  the  fact  that  men  do  not  know  the 
facts  which  to  the  other  party  seem  important,  or  other- 
wise fail  to  appreciate  his  point  of  view." 

In  revising  for  the  Oxford  University  Press  the  helps 
in  their  Bibles,  bringing  them  up  to  date,  and  transform- 
ing them  into  their  Cyclopedic  Concordance^  my  attention 
was  repeatedly  called  to  the  variety  of  meanings  a  single 
word  conveyed.  The  denarius,  the  unit  of  Roman  coin- 
age, or  its  equivalent,  the  drachma  of  the  Grecian,  varied 
at  different  periods  and  in  different  places.     The  "  talent" 


224  THE   FRONT   LINE 

and  the  ''  pound "  had  always  two  or  more  different 
values.  Gopher  represents  six  different  animals  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  our  own  country ;  there  are  four  kinds 
of  quart  measures,  and  two  kinds  of  ton,  in  use  to-day  in 
our  country,  to  say  nothing  of  other  lands. 

This  is  but  an  illustration  of  what  is  continually  occur- 
ring in  the  intellectual  world.  Mr.  Ruskin  is  right  when 
he  says  :  "  There  are  masked  words  abroad,  which  nobody 
understands,  but  which  everybody  uses,  and  most  people 
will  also  fight  for,  live  for,  or  even  die  for,  fancying  they 
mean  this  or  that  or  the  other,  of  things  dear  to  them : 
for  such  words  wear  chameleon  cloaks  —  'ground-lion' 
cloaks  of  the  color  of  the  ground  of  any  man's  fancy.  .  .  . 
There  were  never  creatures  of  prey  so  mischievous,  never 
diplomatists  so  cunning,  never  poisoners  so  deadly,  as 
those  masked  words." 

For  instance,  in  our  day,  "  Conservative "  has  not  al- 
ways the  same  meaning  to  different  people.  Speak  the 
word  "Higher  Critic,"  and  the  picture  presented  varies 
in  different  minds  from  an  angelic  messenger  to  a  devour- 
ing dragon,  from  the  mere  insect  crawling  on  the  window- 
pane  in  Poe's  story,  to  the  monster  rushing  down  the 
mountain  side,  as  it  appeared  to  his  friend  on  the  lounge. 
Years  ago,  if  one  said  "  Election,"  to  one  it  was  as  a  red 
rag  to  a  wild  bull,  to  another  a  red  rose  from  the  garden 
of  God.  Now,  the  study  of  the  Bible  is  one  of  the  influ- 
ences which  is  modifying  all  this.  I  well  remember  how 
I  was  enlightened  by  seeing  how  Paul's  doctrine  of  elec- 
tion was  illustrated  by  his  own  words  and  experience  in 
his  shipwreck  on  the  coast  of  Malta. 

The  churches  are  growing  more  and  more  united  on 
the  great  practical  doctrines  of  religion,  because  they  are 


BIBLE   STUDY    FOR    THE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL  225 

modifying  and  correcting  their  views  through  the  liter- 
ary study  of  the  Bible  and  attaching  more  nearly  the 
same  meaning  to  the  same  term.  They  have  often  gone 
through  the  Bible  as  if  riding  in  an  Irish  jaunting  car, 
back  to  back,  each  seeing  an  opposite  view ;  now  they  are 
in  a  modern  car,  facing  to  the  front  and  looking  out  on 
both  sides.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  says  that  when  John 
and  Thomas  are  talking  together  there  are  always  six  dis- 
tinct personalities  taking  part  in  the  dialogue,  —  the  real 
John  and  the  real  Thomas,  John's  ideal  of  himself  and 
Thomas's  ideal  of  himself,  and  each  one's  ideal  of  the 
other.  There  has  been  a  similar  experience  in  the  rela- 
tion of  different  denominations ;  but  they  are  coming  to 
understand  one  another  better  and  see  each  other  more 
nearly  as  they  really  are  in  the  sight  of  God,  partly,  at 
least,  through  the  light  which  comes  from  the  literary 
study  of  the  Bible. 

"  If  I  could  see 
As  in  truth  they  be, 
The  glories  that  encircle  me, 
I  should  lightly  hold 
This  tissued  fold, 
With  its  marvellous  curtain  of  blue  and  gold. 

"  For  soon  the  whole. 
Like  a  parched  scroll,- 
Shall  before  my  amazed  eyes  uproll, 
And  without  a  screen, 
At  one  burst  be  seen 
The  Presence  in  which  I  have  always  been."  ^ 

III.    Concentrated  Study  on  Particular  Books  or  Periods 
or  Sections.  —  The  value  of  this  kind  of  study  is  closely 

1  Whytehead. 


226  THE    FRONT   LINE 

allied  to  the  reading  of  the  whole  Bible  in  course,  and 
should  be  conjoined  Avith  it.  The  same  principles  that 
apply  to  literary  studies,  to  travel,  and  to  general  culture, 
apply  here.  It  is  no  longer  possible  to  acquire  all  knowl- 
edge thoroughly,  but  it  is  wise  to  learn  some  few  things 
as  completely  as  possible,  while  we  know  a  little  of  many 
other  things.  It  is  like  making  a  garden  in  the  midst  of 
a  great  farm.  It  is  like  the  experiment  station  at  Orono, 
Maine.  It  is  mining  deep  and  finding  treasures  which  we 
had  walked  over  again  and  again,  unconscious  of  what 
was  beneath  the  surface. 

One  of  my  brother  ministers  was  near-sighted  in  his 
younger  days.  He  had  never  seen  a  distant  prospect. 
He  did  not  know  that  there  was  any  view  beyond  his 
narrow  range  of  sight.  When  he  was  twelve  years  old, 
his  father  gave  him  a  pair  of  near-sighted  spectacles,  and 
behold  a  new  world  was  spread  out  before  him,  of  which 
hitherto  he  had  no  conception.  It  was  almost  like  the 
creation  of  a  new  world. 

Such  a  widening  of  the  horizon,  such  an  illumination 
of  certain  passages  of  Scripture,  such  a  revelation  of  hid- 
den treasures,  have  come  to  me  both  while  studying  single 
lessons  again  and  again  as  they  have  been  repeated  in 
our  International  Lesson  courses  and  while  pondering  on 
entire  books  or  on  the  whole  period  of  a  course  for  the 
sake  of  perfecting  a  review.  Each  time  the  illumination 
from  within  has  increased,  and  I  have  almost  seen  in  the 
passage  the  transformation  described  by  Goethe  in  his 
Tale  of  Tales,  where  the  plain  form  and  rough  beams  of 
the  fisherman's  hut  were  transformed  by  the  inner  light 
into  a  silver  temple  of  most  exquisite  workmanship. 

We  have  found  something  of  the  same  experience  at 


BIBLE   STUDY   FOR   THE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL  227 

family  prayers  by  sometimes  studying  a  single  book  of 
the  Bible  for  a  long  period,  montlis  or  even  years  in  suc- 
cession, with  various  helps,  translations,  and  sidelights, 
till  the  book  was  almost  transfigured.  In  the  words  of 
another :  "  A  new  lesson  or  fresh  subject  never  reveals 
all  its  truth  in  a  first  study  of  it.  It  is  the  ripest  student 
of  Shakespeare  or  of  the  Bible  who  finds  most  of  freshness 
in  the  great  book." 

IV.  Word  Studies.  —  We  must  be  careful  to  avoid  the 
narrowness  which  imagines  that  because  the  broader  Bible 
study  is  good,  and  needs  to  be  emphasized  because  it  had 
been  too  much  neglected  in  the  past,  therefore  there  are  not 
other  ways  as  good  and  as  necessary  to  the  best  Bible  study. 

The  Scientist's  Way.  — Professor  Henry  Drummond,  in 
his  Tropical  Africa^  says  that  he  has  "  lain  a  whole  week 
without  stirring  from  one  spot ;  .  .  .  for  this  is  the  only 
way  to  find  out  what  really  goes  on  in  nature.  ...  To 
watch  uninterruptedly  the  same  few  yards  of  universe 
unfold  its  complex  history,  to  behold  the  hourly  resur- 
rection of  new  living  things,  and  miss  no  change  or  circum- 
stance even  of  its  minuter  parts,  to  look  at  all,  especially 
the  things  you  have  seen  before,  a  hundred  times,  —  to  do 
all  with  patience  and  reverence,  this  is  the  only  way  to 
study  nature."  Professor  Agassiz  used  to  teach  his  stu- 
dents to  look  at  a  single  fish  for  days  at  a  time. 

The  Poet's  Way.  —  Tennyson  says :  — 

"  Flower  in  the  crannied  wall, 
I  pluck  you  out  of  the  crannies ;  — 
Hold  you  here,  root  and  all,  in  my  hand, 
Little  flower  —  but  if  I  could  understand 
What  you  are,  root  and  all,  and  all  in  all, 
I  should  know  what  God  and  man  is." 


228  THE   FRONT   LINE 

The  Literary  Man's  Way.  —  Mr.  Ruskin  gives,  in  his 
Sesame  and  Lilies^  one  of  the  best  examples  of  word  study 
in  all  literature.  It  is  well  for  every  Bible  student  to 
study  it.  "  First  of  all,"  he  says,  "  I  tell  you  earnestly 
and  authoritatively  (I  know  I  am  right  in  this),  you  must 
get  into  the  habit  of  looking  intensely  at  words,  and 
assuring  yourself  of  their  meaning,  syllable  by  syllable  — 
nay,  letter  by  letter.  .  .  .  You  might  read  all  the  books 
in  the  British  Museum  (if  you  could  live  long  enough) 
and  remain  an  utterly  illiterate,  uneducated  person ;  but 
if  you  read  ten  pages  of  a  good  book,  letter  by  letter,  — 
that  is  to  say,  with  real  accuracy,  —  you  are  f orevermore 
in  some  measure  an  educated  person." 

The  Mining  Way.  —  Any  one  who  has  read  the  four 
large  volumes  of  Word  Studies  on  the  New  Testament^  or 
Trench  on  the  Study  of  Words^  will  have  no  question 
concerning  the  value   of  such  studies. 

Many  of  our  words  contain  whole  poems;  others  are 
volumes  of  history  or  philosophy.  In  the  words  of  Pro- 
fessor Burton:  "Take  up  the  commonest  words  of  daily 
speech,  and  put  them  to  your  ear,  and  they  will  sing  like 
shells  from  the  sea.  There  are  whole  poems  in  them, 
epics,  idyls  of  every  sort." 

For  instance,  take  the  common  word  "  help  "  in  Luke 
10 :  40,  where  Martha  asks  Jesus  to  bid  her  sister  that  she 
"  help  "  her.  This  word  in  the  Greek  is  a  long  compound 
word,  sunantilab'etai^  —  sun^  ''together  with";  anti,  "over 
against,  on  the  other  side " ;  and  lah'etai^  "  to  take  hold 
of."  So  that  Martha's  request  was  that  Mary  take  hold  of 
the  burden  of  housekeeping  with  her,  on  the  opposite  side, 
and  bear  it  with  her.  The  same  word  is  used  but  once 
more  in  the  New  Testament,  in  Romans  8:26,  where  we 


BIBLE   STUDY   FOR   THE   SUNDAY  SCHOOL  229 

are  told  that  the  Spirit  "  helpeth "  our  infirmity.  The 
Holy  Spirit  takes  hold  of  one  side  of  the  burden  of  our 
infirmity  and  bears  it  together  with  us.  We  are  not  left 
to  bear  it  alone. 

Take  the  word  "tribulations,"  threshings  to  separate 
the  chaff  from  the  wheat,  as  described  by  Archbishop 
Trench,  and  still  more  forcible  when  we  see  the  threshing 
instrument  like  a  harrow  with  sharp  pieces  of  flint  for  its 
teeth. 

Again,  in  Acts  2 :  26,  "  my  flesh  shall  rest  in  hope,"  the 
word  for  "  rest "  means  to  divell  in  a  tent  or  tabernacle.  "  It 
is  a  beautiful  metaphor,"  says  Professor  Vincent.  "  My 
flesh  shall  encamp  on  hope;  pitch  its  tent  there  to  rest 
through  the  night  of  death,  until  the  morning  of  resur- 
rection." 

When  Paul  speaks  of  his  death  as  a  "  departure,"  the 
Greek  word  presents  a  picture  of  a  ship  about  leaving 
port,  loosing  the  ropes  that  bind  it  to  the  dock,  drawing 
up  the  anchor,  hoisting  the  sails,  and  all  the  preparations 
for  starting  from  the  harbor  over  an  unknown  sea  to  the 
desired  haven. 

When  it  is  said  ye  are  God's  "  husbandry,"  we  get  little 
idea  of  the  meaning.  The  Revised  Version  makes  it 
plainer  when  it  translates  the  word  "tilled  land."  But 
the  expression  becomes  fuller  of  meaning  when  we  see  it 
in  our  ordinary  language  as  God's  "farm,"  God's  "gar- 
den" or  "orchard,"  with  the  picture  of  the  methods  of 
cultivation,  the  flowers  and  trees  bearing  all  varieties  of 
the  fruits  of  the  Spirit. 

Read  how  William  Burnet  Wright  in  his  Master  and 
Men^  a  work  on  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  unfolds  the 
meaning  of  the  words  "  comfort"  and  "Comforter." 


230  THE   FRONT   LINE 

We  have  given  more  than  enough  examples  to  show 
how  rich  a  mine  word  studies  may  become. 

I  cannot  close  what  I  have  to  say  on  this  point  in  a 
better  way  than  by  sustaining  it  with  the  glowing  words 
of  Farrar,  ''  So  in  Holy  Writ :  words  of  it,  expressions  of 
it,  separate  points  of  it,  by  themselves,  may  sometimes 
create  an  indelible  impression.  The  Jewish  high  priest 
wore  on  his  Ephod  a  breastplate, '  ardent  with  gems  oracu- 
lar,* to  which  was,  in  some  mysterious  way,  attached  an 
oracle,  the  whole  being  called  Urim  and  Tliummim^  or 
'Lights  and  Truths.'  The  old  Rabbis  said  that  the  way 
in  which  the  high  priest  ascertained  the  will  of  God  from 
the  Urim  was  that  he  gazed  on  the  graven  names  of  the 
tribes  of  Israel,  until  a  fire  of  God  stole  in  mysterious 
gleams  over  the  letters,  and  spelt  out  words  of  guidance. 
The  Holy  Scriptures  are,  if  we  make  them  so,  such  a  Urim 
and  Thummim^  such  manifestations  of  truths,  such  gleams 
and  flashes  of  Holy  Light.  Sometimes  the  Spirit  of  God, 
without  our  desire,  may,  as  it  were,  flame  out  before 
us,  in  letters  of  intense  revelation,  on  the  emerald  or 
chrysolite  of  some  familiar  text ;  sometimes,  in  the  night 
of  meditation,  it  may  vivify  with  celestial  glimmer- 
ings some  long-remembered,  but  hitherto  inoperative, 
words."  ^ 

V.  Learning  by  Heart.  —  The  last  time  I  ever  saw 
Professor  Andrew  P.  Peabody  of  Harvard,  and  Bishop 
Phillips  Brooks,  at  a  college  dinner  only  a  brief  time 
before  their  death,  both  deplored  the  neglect  of  memo- 
rizing the  Scriptures,  and  urged  the  revival  of  the  cus- 
tom in  the  Sunday  School.  And  they  were  right.  Any 
system  of  education,  however  progressive  in  other  things, 
1  The  Bible  and  its  Supremacy. 


BIBLE   STUDY    FOR    THE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL  231 

will  fail  of  its  best  results  if  it  overlooks  the  laying  up  of 
treasures  in  the  memory. 

There  are  two  seemingly  opposite  views  advocated  by 
wise  and  experienced  teachers  and  educators. 

One  class  advocates  the  memorizing  of  catechisms  and 
verses  of  Scripture  and  filling  the  minds  of  children  with 
the  forms  of  sound  words,  although  their  meaning  is  not 
comprehended  by  them,  because  they  believe  that  the 
truths  enfolded  in  these  seeds  of  knowledge  planted  in 
the  mind  will  in  after  years  spring  up  into  plants  and 
trees  bearing  fruit  in  character  and  life. 

The  other  school  objects  to  memorizing  because  it 
not  only  "gives  in  itself  no  knowledge,  but  is  in  a 
sense  a  barrier  to  knowledge,"  "not  a  help,  but  a  hin- 
drance," and  they  especially  object  to  memorizing  church 
catechisms. 

As  usual  in  such  cases,  both  are  right,  provided  each  is 
modified  by  the  other ;  for  the  extreme  statements,  though 
possible,  are  rarely  realized  in  actual  life.  As  one  has 
said :  "  The  memorizing  is  all  right.  The  failure  to  ex- 
plain what  is  memorized  is  all  wrong." 

Let  us  get  clear  ideas  on  this  subject. 

1.  As  a  rule,  it  is  of  little  value  to  memorize  the  words 
of  long  historical  passages,  as  was  once  the  custom  in 
Sunday  Schools.  Through  such  memorizing  it  is  possible, 
although  extremely  rare,  to  have  such  instances  as  that  of 
the  well-attested  case  of  "  Blind  Alec  "  of  Scotland,  a  man 
"of  mature  years,  and  of  average  intelligence,  who  had 
committed  to  memory  the  words  of  the  entire  Bible.  For 
years  he  had  been  in  the  daily  habit  of  recalling  and  recit- 
ing passages  of  Scripture  thus  memorized.  Yet  he  was 
ignorant  of  every  truth  or  fact  in  the  Bible.     His  great 


232  THE   FKONT   LINE 

memorizing  of  words  had  been  no  help  to  him  in  the  gain- 
ing of  truth." 

What  should  be  memorized  is  not  the  words,  but  the 
general  ideas  and  movements,  of  history. 

2.  It  is  also  true  that  memorizing  the  words  of  a 
mathematical  demonstration  is  a  hindrance  to  learning 
mathematics,  and  is  the  worst  possible  way  of  studying 
them.  "  There  is  a  well-autlienticated  instance  of  a  stu- 
dent who  actually  learned  the  six  books  of  Euclid  by 
heart,  though  he  could  not  tell  the  difference  between  an 
angle  and  a  triangle." 

What  should  abide  in  the  memory  is  the  process  of 
reasoning. 

3.  There  is  little  use,  perhaps  sometimes  a  real  injury, 
in  committing  to  memory  anything  entirely  disconnected 
from  the  ideas  the  words  express,  anything  ungeared  to 
previous  knowledge  or  experience.  It  is  like  storing  seeds 
in  a  warehouse,  where,  though  they  fill  it  to  the  roof 
and  endure  for  ages,  they  can  never  produce  fruits  or 
flowers. 

4.  But  it  should  be  remembered  that  this  rarely  occurs ; 
for  in  most  cases  of  memory  work,  even  of  catechisms,  and 
much  more  of  the  best  Scripture  truths,  there  is  some 
connection  with  previous  knowledge  or  with  life.  It  is 
not  necessary  that  any  truth  should  be  fully  compre- 
hended, but  only  that  there  should  be  an  open  door  into 
it,  some  ray  of  real  meaning  although  that  meaning  reaches 
to  heaven,  some  thread  of  attachment  to  the  needs  of  the 
soul.  The  seeds  planted  thus  in  the  soil  of  the  mind  are 
likely  to  germinate  at  some  time.  And  this  is  the  usual 
experience ;  certainly  in  almost  all  cases  beyond  the 
Primary  Department.     I  believe  you  will  find  a  thousand 


BIBLE   STUDY   FOR   THE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL  233 

cases  of  injury  from  the  failure  to  commit  enough  Scrip- 
ture to  memory,  to  one  where  committing  to  memory  has 
done  harm,  if  committing  choice  Scripture  truths  ever 
does  harm. 

Ruskin  was  taught  not  only  to  read  the  Bible  daily,  but 
to  learn  a  few  verses  by  heart  each  day.  "  It  might  be 
beyond  me  altogether  ;  that  she  did  not  care  about ;  but 
she  made  sure  that  as  soon  as  I  got  hold  of  it  at  all,  I 
should  get  hold  of  it  by  the  right  end.  It  is  strange  that 
of  all  the  pieces  of  the  Bible  that  my  mother  thus  taught 
me,  that  which  cost  me  most  to  learn,  and  which  was  to 
my  child's  mind  most  repulsive,  —  Psalm  119  —  has  now 
become  of  all  the  most  precious  to  me  in  its  overflowing 
and  glorious  passion  of  love  for  the  law  of  God."i  And 
he  expresses  the  utmost  gratitude  to  his  mother  for  the 
"  consistent  lessons  which  so  exercised  me  in  the  Scrip- 
tures as  to  make  every  word  of  them  familiar  to  my  ear 
in  habitual  music  —  yet  in  that  familiarity  reverenced,  as 
transcending  all  thought,  and  ordaining  all  conduct."  If 
I  were  to  live  my  life  over  again,  I  would  learn  much 
more  by  heart  than  I  did  in  my  youth,  —  the  best  hymns, 
the  choicest  passages  from  the  poets  and  other  literature, 
and  especially  the  most  surpassing  spiritual,  life-giving, 
and  life-guarding  portions  of  Holy  Scripture.  There  are 
no  better  companions,  no  better  teachers,  than  an  intimate 
communion  with  the  best  people,  the  best  thoughts,  the 
most  glorious  truths  in  the  world.  I  cannot  tell  you  how 
much  of  an  educating  power  has  been  what  little  I  did 
learn.  The  best  and  richest  words  and  thoughts  continu- 
ally in  the  mind  become  channels  for  our  own  thoughts 
to  flow  in,  till  they  become  a  second  nature. 

1  Prceterita. 


234  THE   FRONT   LINE 

"  Those  are  never  alone  who  are  accompanied  by  noble 
thoughts."! 

"  Recollection  is  the  only  Paradise  from  which  we  can- 
not be  turned  out."  ^ 

"  A  Land  of  Promise,  a  land  of  memory, 
A  Land  of  Promise  flowing  with  the  milk 
And  honey  of  delicious  memories."  ^ 

Out  of  Delphi  came  the  oracle,  "  If  the  Athenians  desire 
good  citizens,  let  them  put  whatsoever  is  most  beautiful 
into  the  ears  of  their  sons." 

So  they  put  into  their  ears  golden  earrings,  as  the  Jews 
wear  phylacteries. 

But  Pericles  told  them  that  the  oracle  meant  jewels  of 
thought  set  in  words  of  gold. 

The  teacher  has  done  the  best  neither  for  himself  nor 
for  the  pupils  under  his  care,  unless  he  first  fills  his  own 
mind,  and  then  the  memories  of  his  pupils,  with  the  most 
precious  passages  of  the  Bible,  so  that  he  and  they  can  go 
through  life  accompanied  by  a  host  of  angelic  truths  which 
fill  the  atmosphere  around  him  like  the  angel  faces  in 
Raphael's  Sistine  Madonna. 

"  Finally,  brethren,  whatsoever  things  are  true,  what- 
soever things  are  honest,  whatsoever  things  are  just, 
whatsoever  things  are  pure,  whatsoever  things  are  lovely, 
whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report ;  if  there  be  any  vir- 
tue, and  if  there  be  any  praise,  think  on  these  things."  * 

VI.  The  Magnet  Method.  —  Under  this  head  I  wish  to 
present  some  of  the  time-saving  and  labor-saving  methods 
of  enriching  your  Bible  studies,  which,  from  long  experi- 
ence and  necessity,  I  have  found  most  helpful  in  gather- 
ing about  the  Bible  for  easiest  and  most  effective  use 
1  Sidney.  2  Richter.  ^  Tennyson.  *  Paul. 


BIBLE   STUDY   FOR   THE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL  235 

the  great  mass  of  materials  which  present  themselves  from 
day  to  clay. 

Dr.  Holmes,  in  the  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table,  rep- 
resents the  Divinity-student  at  the  table  as  saying,  after 
listening  to  one  of  the  doctor's  famous  illustrations, — 
"  There  is  no  power  I  envy  so  much  as  that  of  seeing 
analogies  and  making  comparisons.  I  don't  understand 
how  it  is  that  some  minds  are  continually  coupling 
thoughts  or  objects  that  seem  not  in  the  least  related  to 
each  other,  until  all  at  once  they  are  put  in  a  certain  light, 
and  you  wonder  that  you  did  not  always  see  that  they 
were  as  like  as  a  pair  of  twins.  It  appears  to  me  as  a  sort 
of  miraculous  gift."  "You  call  it  miraculous!'''  Then 
the  doctor  pictures  a  man  by  the  ocean  with  a  tin  cup 
taking  up  a  gill  of  sea-water,  "  and  you  call  the  tin  cup  a 
miraculous  possession  !  It  is  the  ocean  that  is  miraculous, 
my  infant  apostle  !  "  Then,  picturing  all  the  fancies  that 
poetry  has  dreamed  or  humanity  has  felt,  he  goes  on  to  say 
"  the  Epic  which  held  them  all,  though  its  letters  filled  the 
zodiac,  would  be  but  a  cupful  from  the  infinite  ocean  of 
similitudes  and  analogies  that  rolls  through  the  universe." 

Almost  the  same  may  be  said  of  literature,  and  of  life 
of  Avhich  literature  is  the  expression.  Not  only  from 
books,  but  from  the  weekly  papers,  religious  and  secular, 
from  magazines  of  almost  all  kinds,  scientific,  secular, 
literary,  educational,  and  Biblical,  there  flock,  like  doves 
to  their  windows,  thoughts,  facts,  illustrations,  explora- 
tions, to  the  reader  of  the  Bible. 

"  Come  and  wander  with  me, 
Into  regions  yet  untrod, 
And  read  what  is  still  unread 
In  the  Manuscripts  of  God." 


236  THE   FRONT    LINE 

After  trying  almost  every  conceivable  way  of  utilizing 
these  things,  I  have  settled  down  upon  certain  methods  as 
the  most  helpful  to  me,  and  therefore  probably  to  the 
teacher  and  minister. 

1.  Use  the  margins  of  your  Bible  for  noting  references 
to  illustrations  or  facts  in  the  books  you  read,  putting  the 
name  of  the  book  and  the  page  opposite  to  the  verse  on 
which  it  throws  light,  also  marking  the  passage  in  the 
book  itself,  if  the  book  is  your  own.  It  is  quite  an  advan- 
tage to  own  the  books  you  read,  on  account  of  this  privi- 
lege of  marking  them,  and  also  noting  on  the  blank  leaves 
the  marked  pages  which  throw  especial  light  on  the  Bible. 

For  instance,  in  one  of  my  Bibles  I  find  on  the  margin 
against  Exodus  12  :  3,  "  borrowed,"  "see  Trumbull's  Orien- 
tal Social  Life^  p.  319,  etc.,"  and  on  the  next  chapter  a  ref- 
erence to  his  Kadesh-harnea,  the  best  help  in  understanding 
the  route  of  the  exodus.  I  turn  again  to  Matthew  27 :  36, 
and  find  recorded  opposite  it  "  Sidney  Lanier's  Poems,  A 
Ballad  of  Trees  and  the  Master'';  against  Matthew  23 :  29, 
"  Lowell's  Essays  on  Dante,  p.  141 "  ;  at  Matthew  24  :  36, 
37,  "  Kidd's  Social  Evolution,  p.  134,  Lecky's  History  of 
European  Morals,  I,  359";  against  Mark  6:3,  '^Brown- 
ing's Poems,  The  Boy  and  the  Angel,  p.  256  " ;  opposite 
"  under  the  shadow  of  his  wings,"  Psalm  17  :  8,  I  would 
write  "  Bowl  of  Prseneste,"  to  remind  me  of  that  beautiful 
illustration  in  a  series  around  the  rim  of  that  famous  bowl 
from  Southern  Italy,  which  was  told  me  by  a  learned  man, 
and  which  I  can  find  pictured  and  described  in  some  vol- 
ume of  my  Notes.  In  this  way  there  is  a  very  helpful 
correlation  between  the  literature  we  read  and  the  Bible. 
2.  Another  method  is  quite  as  helpful  in  some  ways 
and  requires  less  time.     I  have  always  great  reason  to 


BIBLE   STUDY   FOR   THE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL     -       237 

be  thankful  to  Mr.  Joseph  C.  Thomas,  of  The  Methodist 
Book  Concern,  New  York,  for  showing  me,  several  years 
ago,  among  his  many  ingenious  plans  for  libraries,  his  Index 
Bible.  It  consists  simply  of  heavy  manilla-paper  files, 
folded  thrice  in  a  kind  of  open  envelope,  one  for  each 
book  of  the  Bible.  The  name  of  the  book  is  placed  on 
four  corners,  so  that,  however  it  is  put  in  the  bookcase,  it 
is  easy  to  find  the  book  you  w^ant.  These  are  placed  on  a 
shelf  close  to  my  desk,  and  into  them  are  put  cuttings  of 
all  kinds  that  illustrate  any  particular  text,  marking  the 
chapter  and  verse  on  the  cutting,  and,  at  first,  putting  on 
the  outside  of  each  envelope  the  chapter  and  verse  to 
which  there  was  a  reference.  But  this  became  too  bur- 
densome. I  have  also  been  inclined  of  late  to  use  this 
Index  Bible  for  references  to  literature,  simply  noting 
down  the  book,  the  page,  and  the  point  illustrated,  on  a 
slip  of  paper  and  placing  it  in  the  folded  envelope  to 
which  it  belongs.  It  is  perfectly  simple  for  any  one  to 
make  these  folders  out  of  heavy  manilla  or  leather  board 
to  be  found  at  bookbinders'. 

I  have  found  it  useful  to  make  a  distinction  between 
illustrations  of  subjects,  and  those  that  add  some  knowl- 
edge to  particular  verses.  The  latter  I  put  in  my  Index 
Bible  ;  the  illustrations  I  simply  throw  into  a  drawer 
without  classification,  because  in  many  cases  the  same 
illustration  will  fit  several  related  subjects  ;  and  it  is  good 
once  in  a  while  to  run  through  the  whole  list,  both  to  sift 
them,  and  to  become  acquainted  with  the  contents  of  the 
drawer. 

3.  There  is  a  use  of  magazine  articles  which  is  a  great 
improvement  over  the  old  way  of  keeping  them  in  yearly 
bundles  stored  away  in  some  odd  corner  of  the  house.     I 


238  THE  FKO^T   LINE 

found  this  way  almost  entirely  useless  for  Bible  helps. 
Even  binding  them  was  not  much  more  convenient.  It 
took  too  long  to  find  the  articles  on  any  particular  sub- 
ject. There  are  continually  coming  out  long  articles  by 
biblical  experts  and  explorers  in  Bible  lands,  which  are 
more  thorougli  than  commentaries  can  be,  and  later  than 
most  books  on  the  subjects  of  which  they  treat.  These 
articles  I  cut  out  and  placed  in  home-made  folders  like 
those  of  the  Index  Bible,  marked  with  the  names  of  the 
books  of  the  Bible,  and  also  with  two  or  three  other  sub- 
jects, such  as  Education,  the  Sunday  School.  Thus  every- 
thing on  any  book  of  the  Bible  is  ready  for  immediate  use. 

4.  The  card  catalogue  can  be  used  with  great  advan- 
tage ;  not  for  cataloguing  the  books  in  one's  own  library, 
for  though  that  library  may  mount  up  into  several  thou- 
sands, one  ought  to  be  so  acquainted  with  it  as  to  know 
how  to  put  his  hand  upon  any  book  on  any  particular  sub- 
ject ;  but  for  keeping  up  a  knowledge  of  the  best  books  of 
the  past,  and  of  those  that  are  continually  being  issued. 

The  most  difficult  part  of  my  work  has  been  to  know 
what  there  is,  all  there  is,  and  the  best  there  is,  on  every- 
thing pertaining  to  the  Bible.  By  watching  the  book 
notices  and  cutting  them  out,  by  studying  not  only  the 
great  libraries,  but  every  minister's  library  you  can  reach, 
and  by  conversing  with  experts  as  you  meet  them,  and 
then  putting  the  results  on  the  cards  of  an  ordinary  card 
catalogue  arrangement,  under  each  book  of  the  Bible,  sub- 
divided as  often  as  may  be  convenient,  you  will  soon  have 
a  knowledge  of  the  chief  literature  on  the  Bible  available 
for  buying  or  research  in  the  great  libraries. 

VII.  Studying  the  Bible  in  Different  Versions  and  Lan- 
guages. —  While  comparatively  few  Sunday  School  teach- 


BIBLE   STUDY   FOR   THE  SUNDAY   SCHOOL  239 

ers  can  make  an  exhaustive  study  of  the  Bible,  which  is 
the  work  of  a  lifetime  and  more,  yet  while  they  are  pass- 
ing through  life  it  is  well  to  make  the  best  use  of  the 
opportunities  they  have.  The  hours  of  lesson  study,  the 
times  of  devotional  reading,  the  seasons  of  family  prayers, 
may  be  rendered  more  effective  and  more  interesting  by 
studying  and  reading  the  Scriptures  in  a  variety  of  ways. 
This  is  especially  true  of  family  prayers,  which  give  the 
characteristic  atmosphere  to  the  family,  and  through  social 
reading  gives  an  especially  good  opportunity  to  gain  the 
advantage  which  comes  from  reading  in  different  versions 
and  in  as  many  languages  as  he  can  understand. 

The  advantage  of  reading  various  versions  arises  from 
the  fact  that  some  of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  words  have 
no  exact  synonyms  in  English.  The  words  do  not  cover 
exactly  the  same  territory.  For  instance,  a  Greek  word 
is  translated  "power"  in  the  Authorized,  and  "authority" 
in  the  Revisions.  But  both  meanings  are  included  in  the 
Greek  word,  and  neither  version  gives  the  full  meaning. 
So  "patience"  in  "tribulation  worketh  patience,"  is  trans- 
lated "  steadfastness  "  in  the  American  Revision,  emphasiz- 
ing endurance  while  "  patience  "  emphasizes  the  burden, 
but  the  Greek  word  includes  both  meanings. 

Thus  every  translation,  however  perfect,  comes  short  of 
giving  the  whole  meaning.  In  the  words  of  Professor 
Henry  M.  Whitney :  — 

"  While  all  translation,  outside  of  science  or  other  exact 
knowledge,  is  difficult  and  in  some  sense  impossible,  the 
translation  of  the  Bible  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  things 
to  which  the  hand  of  man  has  ever  been  set.  The  best- 
qualified  can  achieve  it  only  imperfectly,  and,  almost  while 
they  are  printing  their  version,  new  discoveries  come  to 


240  THE   FRONT   LINE 

make  them  regret  some  decision,  and  the  English  language 
has  shifted  a  little,  so  that  some  word  that  fitted  exactly 
now  fits  no  more.  .  .  .  No  translator  is  perfect  or  makes 
a  perfect  work ;  there  are  always  words  and  passages  that 
are  open  to  doubt ;  the  terms  of  no  language  exactly  cover 
those  of  another. 

"  Hebrew  is  probably  as  different  from  English  as  any 
other  language,  living  or  dead.  It  is  dead,  and  dead  in  a 
far  distant  past.  .  .  .  Imagine  a  language  having  no 
present  tense,  no  perfect,  no  imperfect,  no  pluperfect,  no 
future-perfect,  no  subjunctive,  no  optative,  no  infinitive ! 
...  Its  prepositions  often  put  one  into  painful  perplex- 
ity as  to  which,  among  the  delicately  differentiated  Eng- 
lish prepositions,  is  the  one  that  ought  to  be  used.  .   .   . 

"  Hence  the  cases  are  frequent  where  there  is  a  wide 
range  of  possible  translation :  many  of  these  are  noted  in 
the  margin  of  the  English  Revision  (that  of  1885),  and 
still  more  in  that  of  the  recent  American  Revision,  but  a 
still  larger  proportion  are  left  unmarked." 

Hence  the  advantage  of  different  versions  which  enable 
us  to  see  the  truth  from  several  points  of  view. 

Again,  there  is  in  each  translation  a  somewhat  different 
atmosphere  arising  from  the  temperament  or  circum- 
stances of  the  translators,  or  the  purpose  they  have  in 
view,  whether  to  meet  the  views  of  the  scholarly,  as  in 
the  English  and  American  Revisions,  or  to  reach  and  at- 
tract the  general  reader,  as  in  the  Twentieth  Century 
New  Testament. 

Moreover,  there  is  a  wide  difference  in  the  literary  ar- 
rangement, in  the  paragraphing,  in  verses,  in  numbering 
the  verses,  in  the  forms  of  printing  poetry,  and  even  decid- 
ing what  is  poetry,  in  the  arrangement  of  the  dramatic 


BIBLE   STUDY   FOR   THE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL  241 

portions,  and  dialogues,  in  the  divisions  into  chapters  and 
sections,  in  the  printing  of  quotations  from  the  Old 
Testament. 

We  will  take  a  brief  glance  at  some  of  the  modern  ver- 
sions and  forms  in  which  the  Bible  is  presented  to  us. 

1.  The  Authorized  Version  of  1611,  in  which  most  of  our 
Bibles  in  common  use  are  presented.  No  other  English  ver- 
sion has  equalled  it  in  the  perfection  of  its  style  and  the 
beauty  and  nobility  of  its  language.  More  than  any  other 
book  or  books  has  the  common  English  Bible  been  the 
maker  of  the  best  English  prose.  "  It  is  written  in  the 
noblest  and  purest  English,  and  abounds  in  exquisite 
beauties  of  a  merely  literary  form."  "It  lives  on  the  ear 
like  a  music  that  can  never  be  forgotten."  "Because  of 
its  grandeur  and  its  beauty  it  has  a  wonderful  spell  for 
the  heart;  it  still  rings  in  the  heart  like  the  peal  of 
remembered  bells." 

2.  The  Revised  Version  of  1881  and  1885,  by  a  selection 
of  the  best  scholars  in  Great  Britain  and  America,  a  mon- 
ument of  exact  scholarship,  surpassing  the  Authorized  in 
its  fidelity  to  the  originals,  and  with  a  more  correct  text 
from  which  to  translate,  but  not  so  musical  and  perfect 
in  its  English.  But  Dr.  Curry,  the  President  of  the 
School  of  Expression,  says  that  "  with  practice  and  famil- 
iarity in  reading  it  aloud  the  sense  of  its  imperfection 
disappears,  and  the  reader  will  soon  grow  to  feel  its 
superiority  over  the  Authorized  Version." 

3.  The  American  Revision  of  1901,  in  which  are  incor- 
porated the  changes  desired  by  the  American  section  of 
the  Revision  Committee,  but  rejected  by  the  English  sec- 
tion; together  with  such  other  changes  as  the  American 
Committee  after  long  and  careful  study  deemed  it  wise  to 


242  THE    FKONT    LINE 

make.  On  the  whole  a  decided  improvement  on  the 
Revision  of  1881  and  1885. 

These  are  the  three  most  important  English  versions. 
While  it  is  true  that  the  two  later  versions  have  made  not  a 
few  decided  improvements,  and  have  corrected  some  real 
errors,  and  are  nearer  to  the  original  Greek  than  the 
Authorized,  yet  these  later  versions  have  not  become  pop- 
ular reading,  and  few  are  being  sold  annually  compared 
with  the  immense  sales  of  the  common  version.  At  two 
very  large  Bible  publishing  houses  I  was  told  that  only 
about  5  per  cent  of  the  Bibles  sold  were  of  the  Revisions, 
and  95  per  cent  were  the  Authorized. 

It  is  well  to  look  the  reasons  for  this  squarely  in  the 
face,  so  that  something  may  be  done  toward  a  remedy. 

First,  —  to  begin  with  the  lesser  reasons,  — the  difference 
between  the  versions  is  not  sufficiently  great,  in  the  opinion 
of  ordinary  readers,  to  cause  them  to  put  away  the  Bibles 
they  have  been  using,  and  all  go  over  together  to  the  new; 
which  they  would  need  to  do,  because  in  all  public  respon- 
sive use  it  is  very  confusing  to  have  different  texts.  No 
great  doctrine  or  truth  is  changed  by  the  changes  in  the 
new  versions. 

Second.  The  old  version  is  familiar,  much  of  it  learned 
by  heart,  in  musical  English,  and  there  is  a  natural  hesita- 
tion before  choosing  a  different  version,  less  perfect  in 
these  ways,  so  long  as  they  can  correct  the  old  by  using 
the  new  for  sidelights  and  necessary  changes. 

Third.  There  are  some  changes  in  those  passages  which 
have  been  long  used  almost  as  liturgies,  which  seem  un- 
necessary and  are  very  trying.  Professor  Whitney  thinks 
that  the  change  in  the  Lord's  Prayer  from  the  large  range 
of  "  Deliver  us  from  evil "  to   the  narrow   "  Deliver   us 


BIBLE   STUDY   FOK   THE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL  243 

from  the  evil  one  "  has  been  one  of  the  serious  obstacles 
to  the  popular  acceptance  of  the  new  versions.  I  would 
add  the  leaving  out  of  the  benediction  from  the  Lord's 
Prayer  ;  and  the  taking  away  a  large  part  of  the  power 
and  blessing  of  the  Christmas  song  of  the  angels  in  Luke, 
by  changes  in  the  translation  due  to  a  single  letter  in  one 
word  of  the  Greek.  It  would  not  have  required  much  of 
a  strain  on  the  principles  of  the  translators  to  have  put  all 
these  changes  in  the  margin,  and  let  these  and  other  litur- 
gical portions  remain  as  they  were. 

Fourth.  There  is  a  strong  feeling  that  we  have  not  yet 
reached  the  final  Revision,  and  this  is  confirmed  by  the  issue 
of  the  American  Revision,  and  of  the  several  versions  de- 
scribed below,  besides  many  tentative  versions  of  individ- 
ual books.  Hence  the  great  expense  of  a  general  change 
will  not  be  likely  to  be  incurred.  The  two  kinds  are  not 
easily  used  together,  nor  will  they  be  till  some  change  is 
made  in  the  form  in  which  they  are  printed. 

Fifth.  The  one  great  hindrance  to  the  general  popular 
acceptance  of  the  Revisions  lies  in  the  exceedingly  cum- 
bersome and  solid  method  of  paragraphing,  rendering 
them  difficult  of  use  for  many  purposes,  and  repellent  to 
the  popular  mind,  as  well  as  to  many  scholars.  If  Shake- 
speare were  paragraphed  in  the  same  solid  way,  even  the 
dialogues  and  conversations  being  run  together  in  solid 
form,  he  would  lose  half  his  readers.  A  large  part  of  the 
fascination  of  the  Tiventieth  Century  New  Testament^  and 
of  Lasserre's  Gospels  in  French,  —  which  created  so  much 
enthusiasm  in  France  that  the  Pope  retracted  his  permis- 
sion for  its  circulation,  —  is  created  by  their  almost  perfect 
paragraphing. 

The  verse  numbers  on  the  margins  of  the  Revision  are 


244  THE   FKONT    LI^E 

some  relief.  The  verse  numbers  in  the  text  of  the  Ameri- 
can Revision  are  more  opposed  to  what  is  sought  by 
paragraphing  than  is  even  the  old  versification.  The 
printing  of  the  Psalms  and  all  poetry  in  poetic  forms  is  a 
great  gain.  But  on  the  whole,  the  verse  form  of  the  old 
version  is  preferred  by  most  people,  not  because  it  is  use- 
ful for  proof  texts,  as  one  man  says,  nor  for  the  conven- 
ience of  commentators,  as  Professor  Moulton  says,  but 
because  it  is  so  convenient  for  reference,  so  open  faced  to 
read,  so  helpful  in  responsive  reading,  in  the  public  ser- 
vice and  in  the  family,  so  referred  to  in  thousands  of  books, 
so  attractive  in  form  as  to  far  overbear  any  gain  from  the 
solid  paragraphing,  which  can  easily  be  retained  in  some 
other  way. 

It  was  a  pleasure  to  find  that  Professor  Henry  M. 
Whitney,  now  Librarian  at  Northampton,  Massachusetts, 
has  expressed  the  same  feeling  in  a  series  of  enlightening 
articles  in  the  Bihliotheca  Sacra^  which  I  hope  will  appear 
in  book  form,  for  they  are  the  best  literary  discussion  of 
the  various  revisions  and  translations  I  have  seen.  He 
says:  "In  this  respect  the  English  Committee  certainly 
made  a  grave  mistake.  It  was  here  that  they  were  expected 
to  make  one  of  their  greatest  improvements,  —  an  improve- 
ment for  which  the  way  had  been  prepared  by  the  para- 
graph Bibles ;  and  yet  dismay  is  hardly  too  strong  a  word 
for  the  effect  of  their  changes  upon  the  public  mind.  A 
paragraph  to  a  verse,  as  in  the  Authorized  Version,  was 
not  right,  of  course ; "  but  a  paragraph  to  a  page  or  more 
was  a  great  deal  worse.  The  translator  who  wishes  to 
make  the  Bible  interesting  to  those  who  are  not  scholars, 
whether  young  or  old,  will  make  as  many  paragraphs  as 
the  matter  will  bear :   the  best  proof  of  this  is  to  watch 


BIBLE   STUDY   FOR   THE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL  245 

such  persons  turning  overbooks  to  find  one  that  'looks 
interesting,'  and  deciding  which  to  try  by  the  openness 
of  the  page.  The  long  paragraphs  of  the  English  Revi- 
sion were  a  distinct  loss  to  the  hold  of  the  Bible  upon  the 
mass  of  the  English-speaking  peoples  ;  the  American  Com- 
mittee have  come  part  way  back  to  the  attractiveness  of 
the  Authorized  Version  in  this  respect. 

"  Taking  at  random  the  first  five  chapters  of  Acts,  we 
find  that  the  English  and  the  American  Revisers  make 
the  same  number  of  paragraphs,  besides  the  poetry,— 
twenty-two  in  all  :  but  that  the  Twentieth  Century  New 
Testament  makes  fifty-one,  besides  frequently  using  Her- 
bert Spencer's  device  of  the  sub-paragraph,  or  a  break 
of  half  an  inch  in  a  line.  It  is  easy  to  tell  which  of  the 
three  bodies  of  translators  are  by  their  work  the  most 
skilful  fishers  for  men.  It  is  a  good  thing  for  a  trans- 
lator, a  scholar,  to  work  from  the  standpoint  of  the  tender- 
ness, the  condescension,  of  Christ." 

In  conversing  with  Mr.  Frowde,  the  head  of  the  Oxford 
University  Press,  I  asked  him  why  he  did  not  print  the 
Revision  in  a  better-paragraphed  form,  like  the  Twentieth 
Century  New  Testament,  He  replied  that  he  had  long 
wanted  to  print  an  edition  in  verse  form,  but  the  Revisers 
were  unwilling  to  have  it  done. 

The  time  is  coming  when  there  will  be  a  paragraphed 
Bible  which  will  contain  the  advantages  of  all  the  systems. 
Whatever  publisher  shall  accomplish  this  with  the  Revi- 
sions will  do  more  to  increase  their  circulation  than  all 
other  influences  combined. 

In  our  prayer  meeting  and  Sunday  School  we  supply 
for  general  use  a  versified  form  of  the  Revision  (1881  to 
1885),  and  it  makes  little  clashing  with  those  who  bring 


246  THE   FRONT    LINE 

the  Authorized  Version  with  them.  And  whatever  pub- 
lisher shall  put  the  Authorized  Version  in  the  best-para- 
graphed form,  as  finely  paragraphed  as  possible,  but 
making  the  verse  references  as  easy  as  in  the  common 
form,  will  be  on  the  way  to  a  fortune. 

4.  Holman's  Interlinear  Parallel  Bible  is  an  ingenious 
but  simple  method  of  presenting  the  two  versions  in  such 
a  way  that  the  differences  are  seen  at  a  glance.  The 
work  is  done  with  great  technical  excellence,  and  with  a 
carefulness  which  notes  the  most  minute  variations. 

It  is  very  handy  for  use  in  the  study,  in  the  home,  or 
in  the  class.  Professor  George  E.  Day  of  Yale  Univer- 
sity commends  it  as  a  means  of  obtaining  most  promptly, 
and  with  the  least  labor,  a  comprehensive  and  at  the  same 
time  particular  view  of  the  agreement  on  the  one  hand 
and  the  differences  on  the  other  between  the  so-called 
Authorized  English  translation  of  the  Bible  and  the 
more  accurate  renderings  adopted  by  the  Anglo-Ameri- 
can Revision  Committee. 

5.  The  Modern  Reader's  Bible  is  the  Revised  Version 
arranged  and  paragraphed  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make 
that  version  very  attractive  and  readable.  It  is  published 
in  a  series  of  small  volumes,  in  plain,  but  neat  binding, 
and  each  book  of  the  Bible  has  a  most  enlightening  and 
suggestive  introduction  by  Professor  Moulton.  This  Bible 
is  one  of  the  most  helpful  now  in  existence  for  private 
reading.  It  is  difficult  to  use  at  family  prayers,  or  in  any 
social  way,  because  there  is  nothing  in  the  text  to  connect 
it  with  the  chapters  and  verses  of  the  common  version. 

I  only  wish  there  was  an  edition  as  beautifully  bound 
as  the  Temple  Bible,  and  with  headings  referring  to  the 
Authorized   Version's   chapters   and   verses.      Then   the 


BIBLE   STUDY   FOR   THE   SUNDAY    SCHOOL  247 

wliole  set,  or  particular  volumes  of  it,  would  be  an  attrac- 
tive present  for  Christmas  and  other  times. 

6.  The  Temple  Bible,  also  in  small  volumes,  is  the 
Authorized  Version  finely  paragraphed,  with  introduc- 
tions from  the  higher  critical  standpoint,  with  notes.  Bib- 
lical references  in  English  literature,  and  other  helps. 
Each  volume  is  beautifully  bound  in  the  same  form  as  the 
charming  Temple  Shakespeare.  One  difficulty  in  using 
it  with  other  translations  is  that  the  connection  Avith  the 
Authorized  Version  is  noted  only  at  the  head  of  each 
page. 

7.  The  Twentieth  Century  New  Testament  is  a  new  trans- 
lation from  the  Greek  into  modern  English,  presented  in 
modern  form,  fully  paragraphed,  with  indented  headings. 
It  puts  the  Gospels  in  so  attractive  a  form  that  one  reads 
it  with  the  charm  of  a  story-book  or  drama.  It  is  the 
best  paragraphed  of  all  the  English  versions. 

The  translation  is  by  twenty  Greek  scholars  in  Eng- 
land and  is  remarkably  well  done,  except  that  sometimes 
it  fails  in  dignity,  and  uses  trivial  words  by  preference, 
where  nobler  words  would  have  been  equally  understood 
by  all. 

"  In  this  translation  not  only  every  word,  but  also  the 
emphasis  placed  upon  every  word,  has  been  carefully 
weighed,  and  an  effort  made  to  give  the  exact  force  and 
meaning  in  modern  English."  ''The  reception  given  to 
this  version  shows  not  only  that  its  serious  intent  has 
been  recognized,  but  that,  in  some  degree  at  least,  it  meets 
a  want  that  is  felt." 

It  can  often  be  made  very  attractive  in  a  class,  and  will 
interest  them  like  a  story-book,  as  no  verse  form  and  no 
solid  paragraphing  can  do. 


248  THE   FKONT   LINE 

"  To  quote  a  case  in  point ;  lately  a  copy  of  this  Twenti- 
eth Century  New  Testament  was  missing  and  it  was  found 
that  a  servant  had  carried  it  away  to  read  in  the  kitchen. 
When  she  handed  it  back  she  remarked,  'I  have  never 
seen  it  so  plain  before.' " 

8.  The  New  Testament  in  Modern  Speech,  an  idiomatic 
translation  into  everyday  English,  by  Headmaster  Rich- 
ard F.  Weymouth,  edited  by  E.  Hampden  Cook,  M.A. 
(England). 

This  is  a  sincere  attempt  to  make  the  New  Testament 
attractive  to  the  common  people,  in  order  that  "  the  com- 
mon people  may  still  hear  the  '  Gospel  gladly,'  because  in- 
telligently, and  because  not  shrouded  in  a  tone  which  is 
now  to  them  out  of  date.  What  Luther  wrote  in  1534 
is  surely  true  to-day,  and  may  his  longing  be  ours,  '  That 
the  husbandman  should  sing  portions  to  himself  as  he  fol- 
lows the  plough  .  .  .  and  the  Scriptures  be  read  by  the 
clown  and  mechanic' " 

It  has  many  good  points  and  choice  translations.  But 
its  paragraphing  is  too  solid  (even  its  conversations  are 
run  together)  for  it  ever  to  be  popular  to  those  for  whom 
it  was  intended.  If  the  editor,  who  was  one  of  the  trans- 
lators of  the  Twentieth  Century  New  Testament^  should 
paragraph  it  like  that  translation,  it  would  add  greatly  to 
its  usefulness,  and  aid  the  cause  for  which  it  was  made. 

9.  The  Modern  American  Bible,  The  Books  of  the 
Bible  in  Modern  English  for  American  Readers,  by  the 
Rev.  Frank  Schell  Ballentine,  Scranton,  Pennsylvania. 
Revised  edition.  This  has  the  same  purpose  as  the  Wey- 
mouth-Cook translation  :  to  be  an  idiomatic  translation 
into  "Modern  American"  form  and  phrase.  The  new 
edition  leaves  unchanged  all  those  portions  which  have 


BIBLE   STUDY   FOR   THE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL  249 

become  so  familiar  as  to  be  almost  liturgical  in  use  and 
in  love,  as  the  Lord's  prayer,  and  all  the  hymns  in  the 
first  chapters  of  Luke.  The  work  is  well  done,  and  de- 
serves high  praise.  But  though  better  paragraphed  than 
the  English  New  Testament  in  Modern  Speech^  it  still 
lacks  much,  in  that  direction,  of  its  possibilities  for  popu- 
lar use. 

10.  The  New  Testament  in  Modern  English,  by  Ferrar 
Fenton,  M.C.A.A.  (London).  This  has  many  of  the 
qualities  belonging  to  Numbers  8  and  9,  but  is  not  so 
well  known. 

None  of  the  versions  by  individuals,  or  by  a  self-chosen 
company,  however  useful  for  other  purposes,  can  ever  take 
the  place  of  authoritative  Versions  made  by  the  widest 
range  of  scholarship  in  the  English-speaking  countries. 

11.  Bibles  for  children,  in  which  are  omitted  those  por- 
tions of  Scripture  which  are  not  adapted  to  children,  and 
not  written  for  them,  nor  interesting  to  them.  These  find 
their  best  use  in  families  where  there  are  small  children, 
for  reading  on  Sundays  and  at  family  prayers,  and  for 
bed-time  stories. 

12.  Translations  of  separate  books,  such  as  the  Poly- 
chrome Bible,  of  which  only  Joshua,  Judges,  Psalms,  Isaiah, 
and  Ezekiel  are  out  in  English;  various  translations  of 
the  Psalms,  of  Job,  of  Isaiah,  and  other  books ;  Delitzsch's 
New  Testament  in  Hebrew. 

13.  Polyglot  Bibles,  such  as  the  Polyglotten-Bihel  in  five 
volumes.  The  Old  Testament  is  given  in  Hebrew,  Greek, 
Latin,  and  German,  in  parallel  columns ;  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  Greek,  Latin,  and  German.  The  Parallel  New 
Testament  in  Greek  and  English.  The  Greek  is  the  text 
followed  in  the  Revised  Version,  and  the  English  in  two 


250  THE   FRONT   LINE 

versions,  the  Authorized  and  Revised,  all  in  parallel  col- 
umns, with  one  column  for  references  and  for  writing 
notes  in  a  fuller  way  than  even  the  wide  margin  Bibles 
allow. 

14.  Diatessarons  of  the  Gospels.  —  The  Diatessaron 
(made  from  four),  called  also  Monotessaron  (four  in  one), 
consists  of  the  Four  Gospels,  woven  into  one  continuous 
narrative.  The  earliest  is  Tatian's  Diatessaron,  about 
170  A.D.  There  are  many  others.  While  for  ordinary 
reading  the  Gospel  narrative  in  its  four  separate  forms  is 
by  far  the  best  arrangement,  and  Macaulay  asks,  "Who 
would  lose  in  the  confusion  of  a  Diatessaron  the  peculiar 
charm  which  belongs  to  the  narrative  of  the  disciple 
whom  Jesus  loved?"  yet  its  occasional  use  at  home  or  in 
the  class  will  give  to  many  the  experience  which  Amos  R. 
Wells  in  his  excellent  Sunday  School  Success  records  as  his 
own :  "  It  has  given  the  life  and  person  of  Christ  marvel- 
lous vividness,  setting  facts  in  their  due  order,  location, 
relations,  and  proportions,  while  the  facility  it  affords  is 
constant  inspiration  to  fresh,  delightful  study.  .  .  .  Not 
only  every  Sunday  School  teacher,  but  every  Bible  scholar, 
should  own  one." 

The  Ideal  Bible  Version.  —  All  these  Bible  versions  are 
tentative ;  they  are  preparing  the  way  for  something  bet- 
ter ;  they  are  "  the  multitude  of  counsellors "  through 
whom  is  "  safety  "  and  "  wise  guidance  " ;  they  are  the 
foundations  on  which  shall  be  built  the  ideal  version  which 
will  abide  for  many  generations,  and  for  which  the  present 
generation  is  waiting. 

(1)  The  Ideal  Version  will  be  made  as  were  the  Author- 
ized and  the  two  great  Revisions,  by  a  large  number  of 
persons  selected  for  their  especial  fitness  for  this  work. 


BIBLE   STUDY   FOR   THE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL  251 

But  they  will  be  selected  from  a  wider  field,  including  the 
very  best  scholars  in  English  as  well  as  in  Hebrew  and 
Greek,  and  some  of  those  few  who  have  the  gift  of  stating 
the  greatest  truths  in  the  best  popular  language,  and  some 
of  true  poetic  feeling  who  can  give  the  charm  of  the  most 
perfect  musical  rhythm  to  the  words. 

(2)  It  will  first  be  issued  in  tentative  form,  in  order  to 
have  the  light  which  the  whole  English  world  can  cast 
upon  it  before  it  is  put  into  its  permanent  form. 

(3)  It  will  embody  all  the  best  that  has  been  gained  by 
all  previous  versions. 

(4)  It  will  embody  the  very  best  scholarship,  but  will 
be  made  so  that  the  common  people  will  understand  it,  be 
attracted  to  it,  and  love  it.  It  will  be  a  Bible  for  children 
and  the  home. 

(5)  It  will  be  so  paragraphed  and  arranged  as  to  em- 
body the  best  of  all  literary  forms.  It  wdll  be  better 
paragraphed  than  the  Twentieth  Century  New  Testament. 
It  will  contain  the  larger  subject  paragraphs  of  the  Revi- 
sions. It  will  embody  all  the  conveniences  for  general 
use  now  employed  in  the  verse  and  chapter  arrangement 
of  the  Authorized  Version.  It  will  make  it  easy  to  recog- 
nize the  present  arrangement  of  chapter  and  verse,  to 
which  all  literature  for  more  than  a  thousand  years  is 
adapted. 


XI 

SUNDAY  SCHOOL  ROOMS  AND  EQUIPMENT 

One  of  the  strongest  motives  which  induced  me  to 
undertake  the  writing  of  this  book  has  been  the  desire 
to  promote  to  the  uttermost  of  my  ability  a  wider  knowl- 
edge and  more  extensive  use  of  the  best  rooms,  the  best 
apparatus,  and  the  best  general  equipment  for  the  Sun- 
day School  work.  There  is  hardly  a  Sunday  School  I 
visit,  even  the  best,  the  most  up-to-date  ones,  but  could 
easily  make  decided  improvements  if  they  knew  what  some 
other  schools  are  doing.  And  most  schools  have  some- 
thing they  can  teach  to  others. 

I  continually  observe  the  building  of  large  and  expen- 
sive churches  in  cultured  communities,  which  provide 
everything  most  beautiful,  most  helpful,  and  most  con- 
venient for  the  adult  worshippers;  but  not  only  fail  to 
give  the  children  that  come  to  the  church  comfortable 
seats,  where  their  feet  can  reach  the  floor,  but  give  far 
from  equal  accommodations  for  the  Sunday  School  and 
the  children  and  the  adults  that  attend  the  Sunday  School 
service. 

I  do  not  know  whether  this  is  due  to  a  want  of  knowl- 
edge of  what  is  best  and  of  what  others  in  like  circum- 
stances are  doing,  or  to  a  lack  of  realization  of  its  value 
and  necessity. 

When,  only  ten  or  twelve  years  ago,  it  was  proposed  to 

252 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL   ROOMS   AND   EQUIPMENT  253 

transform  the  outgrown  chapel  and  Sunday  School  rooms 
in  a  beautiful  and  cultured  suburb  of  Boston,  not  one  in 
our  church  was  found,  except  Rev.  Dr.  F.  E.  Clark  and 
myself,  who  had  even  seen  one  of  the  modern  model  Sun- 
day School  rooms.  It  is  but  a  few  years  since  there  was 
but  one  such  building,  so  far  as  I  know,  in  the  whole  state 
of  Massachusetts.  The  number  is  gradually  increasing, 
and  many  more  are  approximating  it,  being  modified  by 
the  idea ;  and  in  many  parts  of  the  country  the  number  is 
growing  with  comparative  rapidity,  and  most  large,  new 
churches  are  influenced  by  the  plan. 

The  elder  Dr.  Tyng  was  right  when,  in  a  public  ad- 
dress in  Henry  Ward  Beecher's  Church,  he  said  :  "  For 
years,  if  the  choice  before  me  in  my  work  as  a  pastor  has 
been  between  one  child  and  two  adults,  I  have  always 
been  ready  to  take  the  child.  It  seems  to  me  that  the 
Devil  would  never  ask  anything  more  of  a  minister  than 
to  have  him  feel  that  his  mission  was  chiefly  to  the 
grown-up  members  of  his  congregation,  while  some  one 
else  was  to  look  after  the  children."  Then,  pointing  to 
the  main  entrance  of  the  Plymouth  Church  auditorium, 
he  continued,  with  that  peculiar  intensity  of  his :  "  I  can 
see  the  Devil  looking  in  at  that  door,  and  saying  to  the 
minister  on  this  platform,  '  Now  you  just  stand  there  and 
fire  away  at  the  old  folks,  and  I'll  go  around  and  steal 
away  the  little  ones,  —  as  the  Indians  steal  ducks,  swim- 
ming under  them,  catching  them  by  the  legs,  and  pulling 
them  under.' "  ^ 

I  do  not  mean  that  the  church  edifice,  which  is  for  all, 
both  old  and  young,  should  not  be  more  beautiful,  more 

1  See  the  whole  dramatic  story,  as  told  by  H.  C.  Trumbull  in  his  Yale 
Lectures  on  the  Sunday  School. 


254  THE   FRONT   LINE 

expensive,  more  adapted  to  cultured  tastes  than  the  Sun- 
day School  rooms,  but  that  these  latter  should  be  as  per- 
fectly adapted  to  the  work  to  be  done  in  them  as  the 
Church  is  for  its  purposes.  No  Church  can  afford  to 
neglect  in  any  degree  the  best  training  for  the  young, 
who  are  to  become  the  Church  of  the  future. 

The  best  machinery  for  its  purpose  in  the  whole  world 
should  be  that  which  enables  religious  education  to  accom- 
plish its  purposes.  More  rapid  than  the  improvement  of 
all  methods  and  means  for  carrying  on  the  business  of  the 
world  should  be  the  improvement  in  the  means  of  educa- 
tion; and  swifter  than  the  progress  of  school  buildings 
and  apparatus  for  the  day  schools  should  be  the  progress 
in  Sunday  School  buildings,  and  all  the  aids  to  teaching 
the  Bible  and  training  children  for  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

The  heart,  the  soul  of  the  Sunday  School  is  the  teach- 
ing, —  the  teacher,  the  persons  taught,  and  the  lesson 
taught.  There  is  no  limit  to  what  this  soul  of  the  Sun- 
day School  can  become  and  can  do  under  any  circum- 
stances, however  adverse. 

But  it  does  make  a  difference  in  what  kind  of  a  body 
this  soul  lives,  whether  the  body  is  the  best  instrument 
for  the  soul's  activities,  or  whether  the  soul  must  be  ham- 
pered and  hindered  by  using  its  energy  in  contending 
against  weakness  and  sickness  and  pain,  bad  food,  and 
imperfect  senses. 

There  have,  indeed,  been  saints  in  lonely  deserts  and 
in  the  very  purlieus  of  sin.  There  have  been  souls  of  the 
greatest  usefulness  and  power  in  feeble,  pain-racked,  bed- 
ridden bodies.  Marvellous  works  have  been  accomplished 
by  the  blind,  which  few  with  seeing  eyes  could  have  done. 
These  facts  go  —  like  the  strains  of  music  heard  in  war- 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL  ROOMS   AND   EQUIPMENT  255 

time,  thrilling  the  soldiers'  hospital  —  through  this  weary 
world,  singing  songs  of  comfort,  of  hoj^e,  of  triumph,  to 
those  who  cannot  have  the  best,  who  are  distracted  with 
care,  wrestling  with  poverty,  burdened  with  infirmities. 

"  O  ye  beneath  Life's  crushing  load, 

Whose  forms  are  bending  low, 
Who  toil  along  the  climbing  way, 

With  painf  al  steps  and  slow ! 
Look  now,  for  glad  and  golden  hours 

Come  swiftly  on  the  wing ; 
O  rest  beside  the  weary  road, 

And  hear  {these)  angels  sing." 

But  the  bass  to  this  triumphal  air  is  that  only  the  soul 
that  does  its  level  best  with  what  it  has  can  join  in  that 
song  ;  that  whosoever  rests  content  with  the  poorest  in- 
strument when  a  better  is  within  its  power,  is  not  fit  to 
do  the  best  under  disadvantages,  fails  in  the  very  power 
by  which  triumph  can  be  won.  A  great  musician  can 
produce  fine  music  on  a  common  violin ;  but  he  that  uses 
such  a  one  when  he  can  have  a  Stradivarius  proves  not 
only  that  he  is  a  fool,  but  that  he  is  not  a  good  musician. 
Now  this  is  a  fitting  parable  for  the  Church  and  the 
Sunday  School.  It  is  a  chorus  of  angels  singing  songs 
of  cheer,  of  encouragement,  of  deliverance  from  the 
Slough  of  Despond,  to  the  numberless  churches  and  Sun- 
day Schools  who  are  doing  God's  work  in  the  midst  of 
poverty  and  scanty  numbers,  contending  with  every  dis- 
advantage. For  whatever  belongs  to  spiritual  preparation 
—  the  Bible,  the  Gospel,  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Kingship  of 
Jesus,  the  power  of  the  Grace  of  God  —  is  always  theirs. 
With  these  they  can  do  magnificent  work  for  the  Kingdom 
of  God,  in  rude  schoolhouses,  in  barns,  in  hovels,  in  the 


256  THE   FRONT   LINE 

wilderness,  in  prisons,  as  has  been  done  over  and  over 
again  in  the  history  of  the  Church. 

But  never  when  it  could  have  had  better  instruments, 
never  when  the  world  was  first  and  religion  second,  never 
when  it  builds  beautiful  houses  for  itself  and  lets  the 
church  and  Sunday  School  buildings  decay. 

The  spirit  that  uses  the  latest  machinery  in  its  factories, 
but  the  old  and  worn-out  for  its  churches  and  Sunday 
School,  is  not  the  spirit  that  can  triumph  over  disadvan- 
tages, or  do  good  work  anywhere.  It  signals  its  own 
defeat.  David  slew  Goliath  with  a  sling,  but  he  that 
should  undertake  to-day  to  capture  Fort  Arthur  or  Gib- 
raltar with  David's  sling  would  simply  show  his  want  of 
patriotism  and  tell  the  world  that  he  is  not  even  a  soldier. 

The  Situation.  —  There  are  two  kinds  of  Sunday  School 
buildings^  from  this  point  of  view,  — 

The  old  and  the  new.  Or  rather, 

The  old  and  those  about  to  come  into  being. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  Sunday  Schools,  — 

The  small  and  the  large. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  communities,  — 

The  wealthy  and  the  poor. 

There  are  endless  degrees  and  combinations  of  these. 
All  these  six  things  must  be  considered  in  deciding  what 
is  best  in  any  given  case. 

Mr.  Ruskin  is  right  when  he  contends  that  the  public 
buildings  —  the  church,  the  schoolhouse,  the  library  — 
should  be  the  best,  the  most  beautiful,  the  most  expen- 
sive buildings  in  any  community.  The  church  build- 
ings should  tower  in  quality  above  all  business  blocks,  all 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL    KOOMS    AND    EQUIPMENT  257 

houses,  as  does  its  heaven-pointed  spire,  because  they  are 
for  all,  because  they  symbolize  the  highest,  the  noblest, 
the  most  important  influences  in  the  community,  and 
because  the  recognition  of  these  is  an  educating  power. 
The  Sunday  School  room  and  its  equipment  in  a  wealthy 
community  should  be  as  complete  and  perfect  as  wealth 
and  talent  can  make  them. 

1.  Because  they  express  the  comparative  value  which 
the  community  sets  upon  religion  and  upon  religious  edu- 
cation and  upon  the  training  of  the  children. 

2.  They  are  an  "ideal  made  real"  toward  which  all 
less-favored  communities  can  grow ;  from  which  they  can 
take  whatever  of  good  is  within  their  power,  or  adapt 
them  in  less  expensive  ways  to  their  needs.  Thus  they 
become  "  a  city  set  on  a  hill." 

Every  community  can  take  to  heart  some  words  spoken 
concerning  one  of  the  noblest  characters  in  Stephanie  the 
Uncrowned:  "From  boyhood  he  had  had  an  object  and 
an  ideal.  If  every  man  and  woman  started  in  life  thus 
armed,  there  would  be  surely  less  sin,  less  sorrow,  in  the 
world.  It  matters  little  what  that  ideal  be,  if  only  it 
partake  of  the  nature  of  an  aspiration,  a  soaring  upwards! 
It  may  be  impossible  of  realization,  a  thing  which  an  ordi- 
nary human  being  would  not  recognize  as  feasible ;  never- 
theless it  will  suffice  to  save  that  human  soul  alive;  to 
prevent  it  from  drifting  into  utter  darkness." 

3.  By  this  means  those  who  contemplate  new  buildings 
can  make  them  as  near  the  ideals  as  means  and  disposi- 
tion will  allow.  The  well-known  Akron  Sunday  School 
rooms,  the  first  made  on  this  modern  plan,  have  influenced 
the  church  and  Sunday  School  architecture  throughout  a 
wide  region,  if  not  the  whole  country. 


258  THE   FKONT   LINE 

4.  In  the  case  of  old  and  established  buildings,  it  may 
not  be  feasible  in  some  cases  to  remodel  them,  but  there 
are  almost  none  which  cannot  be  improved  at  small  ex- 
pense, and  made  more  convenient,  more  adapted  to  their 
purpose,  by  simple  devices,  and  by  various  means  of  equip- 
ment, such  as  will  be  described  below.  Many  of  them 
can  be  home  made. 

5.  The  rooms  and  general  arrangements  need  to  be 
quite  different  for  large  schools  from  those  which  are  best 
for  small  schools,  though  rather  by  additions  than  by 
changes  of  principle.  As  a  rule,  too  large  a  number  in 
any  one  room  is  a  disadvantage,  and  renders  it  more 
difficult  to  keep  order.  The  President  of  the  Teachers 
College  of  Columbia  University  told  me  that  one  great 
difficulty  in  some  of  the  large  New  York  Sunday  Schools 
was  that  the  boys  who  in  a  day  school  with  fifty  in  a  room 
behave  well  are  almost  sure  to  be  more  disorderly  and 
more  difficult  to  control  where  five  hundred  are  in  a  room 
together. 

Exhibits  are  a  most  important  factor  in  every  Sunday 
School  Convention,  but  it  is  a  difficult  and  laborious  work 
to  collect  a  complete  and  satisfactory  exhibit  for  each  one, 
or  for  even  the  annual  State  Conventions. 

But  it  is  possible  for  the  State  Associations  to  gather 
gradually  such  an  exhibit  at  its  headquarters.  It  will 
contain  plans  and  samples  of  everything  that  pertains  to 
the  ideal  Sunday  School,  so  that  whoever  wishes  to  know 
what  there  is,  or  to  gain  hints  for  his  own  school,  can  find 
the  best  that  is  known. 

Plans  of  the  best  schools  will  gladly  be  sent  by  the 
architects.  The  publishers  will  send  copies  of  their  books 
and  periodicals.     The  map  makers  will  send  maps  and 


SUNDAY    SCHOOL    ROOMS    AND   EQUIPMENT  259 

charts,  those  who  publish  pictures  will  put  them  on  exhibi- 
tion. Makers  of  tables,  kindergarten  materials,  blackboards, 
will  send  samples.  Every  kind  of  book  on  the  Sunday 
School,  on  pedagogy,  on  child  study,  can  be  collected.  The 
Sunday  Schools  will  send  specimens  of  their  map  work, 
picture  and  written  lives  of  Christ,  examination  papers. 

The  only  instance  of  such  an  exhibit  of  which  I  am 
aware  is  that  of  the  Sunday  School  Commission  of  the 
Diocese  of  New  York,  at  29  Lafayette  Place,  under  the 
charge  of  Rev.  William  Walter  Smith,  M.  A.,  M.D.  This 
embraces  over  nine  thousand  articles,  and  was  sent  to  the 
R.  E.  A.  Convention  at  Philadelphia  and  to  the  Episcopal 
General  Convention  at  Trinity  Church,  Boston. 

Whatever  exhibit  is  prepared  for  the  State  Sunday  School 
Associations  should  be  lent,  in  whole  or  in  part,  wherever 
desired,  and  its  teachings  be  made  known  as  widely  as 
possible. 

Model  Sunday  School  Buildings 

The  Akron  Plan.  —  Almost  simultaneously  with  the 
adoption  of  the  International  Lessons,  there  naturally 
arose  out  of  the  same  earnest  desire  to  improve  the 
Sunday  School,  a  deep  and  growing  interest  in  the  grad- 
ing of  the  classes  and  the  teaching.  But  the  development 
of  the  graded  system  was,  and  still  is,  greatly  hampered 
by  the  want  of  buildings  and  rooms  especially  adapted  to 
the  purpose. 

No  adequate  building  existed  till  about  1866,  when  an 
idea  which  has  created  a  revolution  in  Sunday  School 
architecture,  sprang  out  of  the  fertile  brain  of  Mr.  Lewis 
Miller,  the  financial  founder  of  the  Chautauqua  Move- 
ment, as  Bishop  Vincent  was  the  educational  founder. 


260  THE   FRONT   LINE 

The  Sunday  School  Superintendent  put  into  his  Sunday 
School  work  all  his  business  ability,  and  that  inventive 
power  by  which  he  put  three  hundred  and  twenty  of  his 
own  patented  appliances  into  a  single  one  of  his  great 
reaping  machines.  He  was  testing  that  machine  on  the 
very  day  I  arrived  at  his  house  to  spend  a  Sunday  at 
Akron,  to  study  the  only  ideal  Sunday  School  building 
then  in  the  world ;  and  putting  the  great  reaper  and  the 
model  Sunday  School  together,  I  thanked  God  for  the  con- 
secrated talents  of  a  business  man,  who  will  be  remembered 
longer  for  his  Sunday  School  than  by  his  business  inge- 
nuity. He  secured  the  services  of  Jacob  Snyder,  an  archi- 
tect of  Akron,  and  the  result  was  the  Sunday  School 
rooms  of  the  first  M.  E.  Church  of  that  city. 

Several  examples  of  this  general  plan  are  given  below 
to  show  how  widely  it  can  be  adapted  to  differing  condi- 
tions and  circumstances.  The  original  Akron  building 
is  in  general  like  the  following  cut,  except  that  a  bal- 
cony is  in  front  of  the  class  rooms  instead  of  the  foyer 
in  the  rear,  and  there  are  no  sliding  doors  between  the 
Sunday  School  rooms  and  the  church  auditorium. 

B.    Rotunda,  for  the  intermediate  grades. 

(7.   Class  rooms,  each  one  named  after  some  mission. 

T.    Balcony. 

W.  Kindergarten  and  primary  rooms,  larger  than  the 
class  rooms. 

J.    Vestibules. 

E.   Library. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  partitions  of  the  class  rooms 
all  radiate  from  the  superintendent's  desk,  so  that  he  can 
be  seen  and  heard  by  every  one  in  all  the  rooms. 

There  are  two  stories  of  class  rooms,  the  upper  one  with 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL   EOOMS   AND   EQUIPMENT  261 

a  balcony  in  front,  into  or  toward  which  the  scholars  can 
come  for  the  devotional  exercises.  The  singing  is  bet- 
tered by  this  forward  movement  of  the  class.  The  class 
rooms  make  an  excellent  and  definite  distinction  between 
the  lower  grades  and  the  senior  and  adult  grades,  as  well 
as  between  the  primary  and  the  intermediate  grades. 

The  main  room  is  lighted  from  above,  either  by  a  dome 
or  skylight  or  by  clerestory  windows  at  the  top  of  the 
room. 

A  Modified  Akron  Plan.  —  "  The  necessity  of  maintaining 
the  Sunday  School  as  an  auxiliary  of  the  church  and  as 
a  part  of  the  church  service,  suggested  the  necessity  of 
maintaining  the  various  services  in  one  building,  provid- 
ing departments  for  the  accommodation  of  each,  and  for 
the  purpose  of  accommodating  audiences  varying  in  num- 


FiRST  Floor  Galleries 

An  "Akron"  Sunday  School  room,  at  rear  of  auditorium  "  in  combination." 
Note  the  omission  of  balcony,  and  the  Foyer  passage  to  class  rooms  from 
rear.  This  plan  is  reproduced  by  the  kind  permission  of  George  W. 
Kramer,  Architect,  No.  1  Madison  Avenue,  New  York. 

bers,  so  locating  the  rooms  and  connecting  them  that  they 
might  reinforce  each  other  to  their  full  capacity.  This 
principle  of  advantage  —  first  suggested  by  Mr.  Miller  — 
soon  assumed  tangible  form  and  resulted  in  the  now  popu- 
lar combination  church,  which  has  been  developed  in  many 
forms." 


262  THE   FKONT   LINE 

The  Sunday  School  rooms  are  separated  from  the 
church  auditorium  by  Large  sliding  doors,  so  that  on 
special  occasions  the  audience  room  can  be  almost  doubled. 

Changing  the  balcony  from  the  front  to  the  back  of  the 
class  rooms,  brings  the  scholars  in  them  closer  to  the 
superintendent  without  changing  the  seats.  It  also  en- 
ables the  class  rooms  to  be  entered  without  disturbing  the 
rest  of  the  school.  The  Sunday  School  rooms  by  this 
arrangement  are  not  so  good  as  an  audience  room  for 
lectures,  socials,  stereopticon,  and  other  purposes.  But 
this  arrangement  is  not  an  essential  part  of  the  com- 
bination plan. 

The  combination  plan  has  many  advantages,  especially 
for  small  or  medium-sized  churches. 

Examples  of  this  general  plan  may  be  seen  in  many 
places.  For  instance,  in  the  large  and  beautiful  First 
Baptist  Church  at  Maiden,  Massachusetts,  and  for  a 
charming  small  church,  the  Congregational  Church  in 
Wellesley  Hills,  near  Boston. 

Another  form  of  the  combination  plan  is  one  "with 
which  Lawrence  B.  Valk,  of  Los  Angeles,  California,  is 
identified.  Among  the  interesting  churches  built  on 
this  plan  is  a  new  church  in  Detroit,  Michigan.  It  cost 
$20,000.  It  is  on  a  lot  110  x  150,  and  built  of  pressed 
brick  and  stone  trimmings.  It  can  be  said  that  these 
churches  are  started  with  the  idea  of  a  distinctly  church 
effect.  Mr.  Valk  says,  '  I  have  been  guilty  of  designing 
many  of  these  auditoriums  where  the  pulpit  is  located  in 
the  corner,  but  it  is  impossible  to  get  a  reverent  appear- 
ance with  a  corner  pulpit.'  In  these  new  plans  the  inte- 
rior is  based  on  the  form  of  a  cross  with  nave  and  transept. 
The  platform  is  so  located  that  the  speaker  commands  the 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL   ROOMS   AND   EQUIPMENT 


263 


Sunday  School  as  well  as  the  church.  On  the  platform  is 
a  rood  screen  with  sliding  panels.  It  stands  from  12  to  18 
feet  high,  dividing  the  church  from  the  Sunday  School. 


This  plan  and  description  is  furnished  hy  the  Church  Economist,  31  Union 
Square,  New  York,  the  most  suggestive  paper  I  have  ever  seen  for  work- 
ing plans  and  methods  for  pastors  and  churches. 


The  Sunday  School  room  is  planned  with  radiating  class 
rooms,  so  that  the  superintendent's  platform  is  the  focus 
of  every  eye. 

"  When  the  panels  of  the  screen  are  opened  the  speaker 
can  survey  the  entire  audiences  of  both  rooms  with  choir 
and  organ  at  his  rear.  Under  the  Sunday  School  are  the 
dining  halls,  kitchen,  and  toilets.  This  arrangement  will 
be  understood  more  clearly  by  the  accompanying  plan." 

A  Plan  for  Remodelling  Old  Rooms.  —  There  are  many 
instances  in  which  the  Sunday  School  and  prayer-meeting 


264 


THE   FRONT   LINE 


rooms  are  outgrown,  but  where  they  can  be  remodelled 
and  adapted  to  the  uses  of  both  in  greatly  increased  use- 
fulness. 

An  example  is  given  below  of  the  change  made  in 
the  Congregational  chapel  at  Auburndale,  Massachusetts 
(Ward  IV  of  the  city  of  Newton),  as  one  instance  of  what 
may  frequently  be  done.  The  former  accommodations 
had  been  outgrown,  and  were  transformed  into  a  suite  of 
rooms  as  nearly  like  the  Akron  plan  as  was  possible  under 
the  circumstances. 


X 

o 

/ 

_J 

_l 

< 

X 

Original  Chapel 
S,  S.    Folding  doors.  P.   Primary  room 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL   ROOMS   AND   EQUIPMENT 


265 


The  Chapel  as  Remodelled 

B.  Bible  class  room  on  the  main  floor,  with  Primary  room  and  ladies'  parlor 

over  it. 

C.  Six  class  rooms  in  two  stories. 
S.   Stereopticon. 

M.  Cornice  case  for  maps,  stereopticon  curtain,  with  blackboards  beneath. 
P.  Piano  and  orchestra. 

The  added  rooms  are  all  separated  from  the  main  room 
by  sliding  or  folding  doors. 

The  light  comes  from  the  north  windows,  cathedral  glass 
in  the  class-room  doors,  and  from  a  skylight. 

The  ceiling  was  raised  a  few  feet  into  the  slant  of  the 
roof,  in  order  to  give  height  enough  for  two  stories. 


266  THE  FRONT   LINE 

The  main  room,  as  well  as  the  class  rooms,  is  furnished 
with  a  table  for  each  class. 

The  result  has  been  not  only  a  suite  adapted  to  the 
Sunday  School,  but  a  most  delightful  room  for  the  prayer- 
meeting,  Sunday  evening  services,  lectures,  socials,  and 
committees  of  every  kind.  It  gives  many  cosey  corners, 
and  can  be  adapted  to  any  size  of  audience. 

What  is  needed  still  is  another  addition  on  the  north 
side,  opening  into  the  main  room,  but  separated  by  a 
double  set  of  sliding  doors  to  intercept  the  sounds,  for  the 
Primary  classes,  and  for  the  Junior  Endeavor,  each  of 
which  needs  a  permanent  room  equipped  especially  for  its 
own  work. 

Additions  for  Large  Schools.  —  The  Akron  model  school 
buildings,  with  many  variations  in  detail,  are  the  best  yet 
devised  for  Sunday  Schools  of  moderate  numbers,  up  to 
several  hundreds,  and  for  a  considerable  proportion  of 
scholars  in  the  largest  schools.  But  when  a  school  is 
large  enough  to  make  each  of  the  several  grades  a  distinct 
school  by  itself,  with  sufficient  members  to  give  enthusi- 
asm and  interest  to  each  grade  without  creating  a  loss  in 
others,  then  certain  additional  rooms  should  be  provided. 

If  the  school  is  small,  the  separation  brings  a  distinct 
loss,  except  in  the  case  of  the  Primary  department,  which 
cannot  do  its  best  work  in  connection  with  the  main 
school.  I  have  known  adult  departments  to  suffer  great 
loss,  to  be  disaffected,  to  lose  interest,  because  they  were 
separated  from  the  enthusiasm  and  methods  of  a  flourish- 
ing Intermediate. 

To  quote  from  an  article  lately  published  in  the  Church 
Economist  by  Rev.  E.  Morris  Fergusson,  the  indefatigable 
Sunday  School  secretary  of  New  Jersey  :  — 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL    ROOMS   AND   EQUIPMENT  267 

"The  Junior  department  is  also  rapidly  coming  into 
being  under  the  leadership  of  primary  workers  ;  and  it 
also  demands  and  can  profitably  use  a  well-located  sepa- 
rate room  for  the  upper  years  of  elementary  Bible  instruc- 
tion. We  have  thus  in  operation  a  new  principle  of 
Sunday  School  work,  the  curriculum  or  progressive  course 
of  study,  long  advocated  and  essayed  by  leading  Sunday 
School  workers,  but  here,  in  the  modern,  well-organized 
Primary  and  Junior  departments,  embodied  and  standard- 
ized. 

"  For  the  Sunday  School  work  of  the  incoming  genera- 
tion, therefore,  we  need  to  evolve  a  third  type  of  building, 
of  which  the  totally  separate  and  perfectly  situated  and 
appointed  department  room  shall  be  the  distinctive  factor. 
And  that  the  undoubted  gain  of  a  periodic  joining  to- 
gether of  all  parts  in  one  great  assembly  may  not  be  lost, 
these  department  rooms  must  connect,  by  wide  passages 
and  easy  stairs,  wdth  that  adequate,  appropriate,  and 
worshipfully  suggestive  gathering-place,  the  church  audi- 
torium ;  which  might,  by  means  of  a  solid  but  movable 
partition,  be  made  capable  of  enlargement  for  such  special 
occasions." 

Three  plans  of  these  large  schools  are  given  below. 

The  Kumler  Memorial. 

This  building  is  for  a  school  with  an  enrolment  of  over 
1000  members. 

The  Intermediate  department  is  over  the  Junior,  and 
the  Senior  over  the  Primary. 

It  will  be  noted  from  the  plan  on  page  268  that  it  is  built 
on  the  plan  of  segregation  of  its  seven  departments,  no 
two  of  which  can  be  thrown  together.  Its  Primary  and 
Junior  departments  can  care  for  about  200  scholars  each, 


268 


THE  FRONT   LINE 


the  Intermediate  and  Senior  about  175  each.  The  Adult 
department  can  accommodate  about  350  at  one  time,  while 
the  Normal  department  will  hold  75,  and  the  Chinese  50. 


KUMLER  MEMORIAL  S.  S.  BUILDING— GROUND  FLOOR. 
East  Liberty  Presbyterian  Church,  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania. 


When  asked  for  his  reasons  for  this  segregation  of  de- 
partments Mr.  Samuel  E.  Gill,  the  superintendent,  replied 
to  the  Pennsylvania  Herald  :  — 

(1)  "  The  trend  of  improvement  in  teacher  training  and 
Sunday  School  methods  is  in  the  line  of  specialization  and 
separation,  so  as  to  adapt  the  entire  service  to  the  age 
and  capacity  of  the  pupil.  Logically  we  should  follow 
the  same  plan  in  our  Sunday  School  architecture. 


SUNDAY    SCHOOL    ROOMS    AND    EQUIPMENT  269 

(2)  "  This  plan  enlists  and  develops  a  larger  number 
of  workers,  making  a  more  efficient  force  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  Kingdom. 

(3)  "  In  large  schools  it  enables  the  officers  to  main- 
tain easily  a  much  closer  supervision  of  the  work,  secures 
better  order,  saves  time,  tends  to  thoroughness,  and  can  be 
adapted  to  small  schools  to  their  very  great  advantage." 

Model  Plan  Combining  all  Departments. 

The  arrangement  is  such  that  all  the  departments,  as 
well  as  the  class  rooms,  can  be  thrown  together  and 
every  scholar  be  within  view  of  the  superintendent's 
desk. 

The  church  auditorium  is  separated  from  the  Sunday 
School  room  by  a  wide  partition  of  sliding  doors,  which 
can  be  entirely  removed  from  sight. 

The  class  rooms  A^  B,  C,  D  on  the  lower  floor  are  en- 
closed by  portieres,  making  the  main  room,  when  desired, 
one  open  unobstructed  auditorium. 

The  class  rooms  in  the  gallery  (except  U  and  F)  are 
separated  alternately  with  solid  and  with  removable  parti- 
tions, so  that  each  pair  can  be  thrown  together  for  a  large 
class  if  required,  while  in  each  one  there  is  solid  wall  space 
for  maps,  blackboards,  pictures,  etc. 

The  kindergarten  and  primary  rooms  can  be  shut  off 
from  the  main  room  by  double  sliding  doors.  All  sliding 
doors  to  be  sound  proof. 

Each  department,  the  kindergarten,  the  primary,  the 
upper  and  the  lower  senior  rooms,  and  the  upper  series  of 
class  rooms,  has  its  own  separate  exit  independent  of  the 
main  room. 

The  main  room  is  equipped  with  chairs  and  tables  for 
each  class,  and  is  lighted  by  a  skylight. 


270 


THE   FKONT  LINE 


•  CLA»j,EOQn/-AB  C»0  are 

Lnchs&d  in'Pariiere.J— 
-  ADULT-PUy^AEY  &  KIKDER.- 
CARTE7A-  ore.  3&t«r<3L«d 

•  Church  &  /J  Room- is  enlirejy 

•  remcM^ble  -  .so  fhal  J"  J  and 
Churoh  may  b«.  "ihrown 
l/ogeiher 

•aourid-Jjr 


*7^DE,L*PLANv5*or. 


■AJfajl«.<jf-Fe«.-C- 


A  model  plan  for  Sunday  School  rooms,  by  C.  H.  Blackall,  architect, 
120  Beacon  St.,  Boston. 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL   KOOMS   A^D   EQUIPMENT 


271 


•slldiog-or  roULl-g  Partition* 

•  THE.  -ZJATRA ACL^J■■  to  raomj 
-on  tfiij  rfoor  <5re.  Indebcnd'i 

•or/VMr\-Koon- 

•Partition.-  between  church 
'■^•^■J-  -|»  c.nilr&lyi 


•C'H-bldckdll-Archtiect- 


A  model  plan  for  Sunday  School  rooms,  by  C.  H.  Blackall,  architect, 
120  Beacon  St.,  Boston. 


272 


THE   FRONT    LINE 


Separate  Department  Plan  with  Combinations. 


Ground  Floor 


Galleries  and  Class  Rooms 


Plan  of  separate  department  Sunday  School  room,  by  George  W.  Kramer, 
architect,  New  York. 

In  this  plan  all  the  departments  open  together  in  one 
large  room. 

Each  department  has  its  own  class  rooms. 

The  first  floor  is  given  entirely  to  the  children;  while  the 
seniors  are  all  in  the  second  story  in  four  departments,  with 
sliding  doors  in  front,  except  the  large  Bible-class  room. 

The  largest  Sunday  School  in  the  World,  in  the  largest 
Sunday  School  building  in  the  world,  holding  a  member- 
ship of  over  5000,  is  the  Stockport  Sunday  School,  in 
Stockport,  a  large  city  near  Manchester,  England.  It 
stands  on  a  hill  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  and  for  more  than 
a  hundred  years  has  been  the  Sunday  School  for  all  the 
children  of  the  city  of  all  denominations.  There  are  a 
very  large  number  of  rooms,  each  the  home  of  a  separate 
class.  There  are  larger  rooms  containing  several  classes. 
There  is  a  great  hall  in  which  once  a  quarter  the  whole 
school  assembles  for  general  exercises.     It  is  a  kind  of 


SUNDAY    SCHOOL    ROOMS    AND    EQUIPMENT  273 

"  Institutional  Sunday  School,"  with  improvement  socie- 
ties, libraries,  teachers'  meetings,  and  a  great  variety  of 
interesting  and  peculiar  methods.  I  know  of  no  other 
instance  where  the  Sunday  School  is  the  most  prominent 
religious  institution,  if  not  institution  of  any  kind,  in  a 
city  of  100,000  inhabitants,  and  of  which  it  could  be  said 
that  "  Sunday  School  scholars  are  the  staple  product  of 
Stockport." 

Class  rooms.     See  one  described  on  page  52. 

Raised  seats  like  those  in  rear  galleries  are  used  in  some 
schools  in  the  second  story  but  not  generally,  because 
while  they  are  excellent  when  used  as  galleries  to  an 
audience  room,  they  are  not  convenient  for  class  rooms. 
They  are  sometimes  used  with  good  effect  in  Primary 
rooms,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  Sunday  School  at  Stockport, 
England. 

Partitions  between  class  rooms  are  a  matter  of  some 
importance. 

1.  Solid  walls  as  usual  in  a  house.  The  special  advan- 
tages are  that  they  prevent  the  class  from  hearing  what  is 
going  on  in  the  next  room. 

They  make  a  homelike  room,  which  can  be  used  for 
class  meetings,  etc. 

They  give  the  best  opportunity  for  maps,  charts,  black- 
boards, pictures,  and  book-racks  for  singing-books  and 
Bibles,  and  all  that  is  needed  for  the  best  teaching. 

2.  Rolling  partitions,  simple,  enabling  two  rooms  to  be 
joined  in  one  when  a  larger  room  is  needed.  Sometimes 
these  are  very  useful,  provided  only  two  rooms  adjoining 
are  thus  separated. 

These  partitions  may  be  made  to  roll  up  or  sideways,  as 
most  convenient. 


214:  THE   FKO^JT    LINE 

Class-room  doors. 

1.  In  some  cases  the  class  rooms  on  the  lower  floor 
have  no  doors  but  are  open  recesses  of  the  larger  room. 
For  instance,  the  great  Bush  wick  Avenue  M.  E.  Sunday- 
School. 

2.  Rolling  partitions,  rolling  up  and  down,  or  sideways, 
easy,  simple,  comparatively  inexpensive,  but  allowing  no 
light  to  come  through  for  the  main  room. 

The  same,  made  with  blackboard  surface.  Easily  oper- 
ated and  durable. 

3.  Portieres  or  curtains,  which  fairly  well  exclude  the 
sounds  of  the  main  room,  as  in  two  schools  in  Brockton, 
Massachusetts,  and  the  Congregational  school  in  Mont- 
clair,  New  Jersey. 

4.  Shades  on  rollers,  like  window  shades,  only  larger, 
large  enough  to  cover  the  whole  front  of  the  room.  Made 
of  the  same  color  as  the  tinting  of  the  walls,  they  have 
much  the  same  effect  as  part  of  the  walls  of  the  room. 
For  example,  the  new  Congregational  Church  of  Nashua, 
New  Hampshire. 

5.  Double  folding  doors,  the  panels  of  which  are  of 
cathedral  or  other  kinds  of  glass  which  give  light,  but  as 
also  in  the  following  methods. 

6.  Patent  sliding  and  folding  doors  and  partitions, 
easily  operated,  and  requiring  no  pocket,  and  occupying 
almost  none  of  the  front  space,  are  announced  by  Roof  & 
Co.,  Franklin,  Ohio. 

7.  Sliding  doors  made  in  several  ingenious  ways,  some- 
times running  into  pockets,  sometimes  moving  toward  one 
side,  and  filling  up  a  small  part  of  the  space. 

8.  Window  partitions,  hung  like  the  windows  of  a 
house,  but  wider.     Sometimes  they  run  below  into  the 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL   ROOMS    AND   EQUIPMENT  275 

cellar,  sometimes  up  into  the  attic,  more  often,  divided 
into  three  sashes,  they  are  raised  up  side  by  side  to  the 
top  of  the  room,  and  hide  the  view  from  none. 

These  are  best  when  they  do  not  occupy  the  whole  front, 
but  a  single  door  for  easy  entrance  fills  up  the  space  at  one 
side.  This  side  door  is  a  great  convenience  in  all  cases. 
In  sliding  or  folding  doors  one  of  these  takes  the  place  of 
a  separate  door. 

In  all  cases  there  should  be  ventilating  windows  over 
the  whole  front. 


Class  Rooms  made  by  Portieres.  —  A  number  of  Sunday 
Schools  make  their  class  rooms  by  means  of  large,  elon- 
gated semicircles  of  iron  piping,  on  which  are  hung  por- 
tieres or  curtains,  something  after  the  accompanying  plan. 
When  the  curtains  are  drawn  back  during  the  opening 
and  closing  exercises,  there  is  one  large,  open  room. 
During  class  study  the  curtains  are  drawn  around  the 


276  THE   FRONT    LINE 

classes,  and  they  are  enabled  to  pursue  their  work  undis- 
turbed. These  may  be  arranged  in  abnost  any  room. 
They  are  said  to  be  very  satisfactory.  The  chief  diffi- 
culty lies  in  the  lack  of  the  class  home-feeling,  and  the 
absence  of  the  best  opportunity  for  the  various  maps, 
blackboards,  and  other  equipment  that  the  teacher  needs. 

Excellent  examples  may  be  found  in  the  Congregational 
Church  at  Campello  and  the  new  M.  E.  Church  of  Brock- 
ton, Massachusetts. 

Class-room  Substitutes.  —  Where  there  is  no  opportu- 
nity for  a  full  class-room  equipment,  there  are  substitutes 
of  great  value  used  in  the  ordinary  simple  rooms  in  the 
basement  of  the  church.  Some  cosey  nook  or  corner  may 
be  secluded  by  the  portiere  arrangement,  either  on  the 
iron  piping  frame,  or  on  simple  wires  strung  across  the 
main  room,  as  is  done,  at  least  was  done  a  few  years  ago, 
in  the  great  Sunday  School  of  Mr.  Moody's  church  in 
Chicago.  In  not  a  few  Sunday  Schools  folding  screens 
are  used  for  separating  the  classes. 

The  Seating.  —  Chairs  are  the  best  for  all  purposes. 
There  are  several  kinds  which  have  book-racks  and  places 
underneath  for  hats.  Where  settees  are  used,  some  of 
them  should  be  reversible  and  some  should  be  short,  so 
that  the  classes  can  be  gathered  around  a  common  centre. 
Where  there  is  no  carpet,  the  chairs  can  easily  be  made 
noiseless  by  rubber  tips. 

Tables.  —  One  of  the  greatest  physical  aids  for  the 
teacher  is  a  table  around  which  his  class  gathers  as  a 
focus.  It  should  have  a  drawer  deep  and  large  enough 
to  contain  books,  pencils,  paper  blocks,  chalk,  maps,  and 
anything  the  teacher  needs  in  his  work.  They  are  espe- 
cially useful  as  a  kind  of  desk,  on  which  he  can  place  his 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL   ROOMS   AND   EQUIPMENT  277 

Bible,  Quarterly,  written  notes,  etc.,  so  as  to  leave  his 
hands  perfectly  free  for  the  teaching  process.  Some,  in- 
stead of  a  drawer,  have  the  top  hinged,  with  a  receptacle 
beneath.  This  gives  more  room,  but  is  not  quite  so  con- 
venient as  a  drawer.  Tables  are  made  round  or  square 
or  oblong.  The  latter  kinds  are  more  easily  stowed  away 
around  the  sides  or  in  some  corner,  when  the  rooms  are 
used  for  other  purposes.  These  tables  are  of  special  use 
in  sociables  and  receptions,  as,  for  instance,  to  the  Home 
Department.  A  prominent  teacher  once  said  to  me  that 
if  she  were  compelled  to  make  the  choice,  she  would 
rather  have  a  table  without  a  class  room  than  a  class 
room  without  a  table. 

Blackboards  are  essential  for  many  purposes.  While 
the  puzzle  and  alliterative  methods  of  blackboard  use  are 
wisely  declining,  there  is  an  increased  use  for  notices, 
diagrams,  records,  subjects,  reviews,  etc.  They  are  use- 
ful also  for  prayer-meetings,  missionary  meetings.  Chris- 
tian Endeavor,  and  in  many  cases. 

Every  class  room  should  have  one,  in  addition  to  more 
than  one  in  the  main  room. 

Portable  blackboards  of  many  sizes  and  arrangements 
for  holding  are  very  common. 

But  a  series  of  boards  behind  the  superintendent's  desk 
is  a  far  superior  arrangement.  These  must  run  up  and 
down  in  grooves,  like  window  sashes. 

The  simplest  arrangement  consists  of  two  boards  con- 
nected by  cords  running  over  pulleys,  so  that  when  one 
goes  up  the  other  comes  down.  The  writing  is  done 
within  reach  of  the  platform,  and  then  the  board  is  drawn 
up  within  sight  of  the  whole  school. 

Another  beautiful  arrangement  is  that  of  the  Dwight 


278  THE   FRONT   LINE 

Place  Congregational  Church  at  New  Haven,  Connecti- 
cut, where,  in  a  panel  behind  the  desk,  are  four  large 
crayon  boards,  black,  blue,  green,  and  ground  glass,  hung 
like  separate  window  sashes,  any  one  of  which  can  be 
brought  into  view  at  pleasure. 

A  very  good  arrangement  especially  for  class  rooms  con- 
sists of  two  medium-sized  blackboards  hinged  together, 
one  of  which  is  screwed  to  the  wall.  In  this  way  there 
are  three  boards  in  the  space  of  one,  and  when  open  the 
blackboard  space  is  doubled. 

Endless  Flexible  Blackboards  are  by  far  the  most  con- 
venient of  the  portable  blackboards.  They  consist  of  an 
endless  wide  band  of  blackboard  cloth  running  over 
rollers  at  the  top  and  bottom.  Whatever  is  written  on 
these  can  be  moved  up  to  the  top  in  full  sight,  or  run 
over  behind  out  of  sight.  It  gives  double  the  amount 
of  surface  of  an  ordinary  board.  These  blackboards  are 
made  in  many  styles  and  arrangements,  walls  on  portable 
frames,  and  in  a  folding  arrangement  for  lecturers  to 
carry  with  them.  These  light  arrangements  are  equally 
good  and  more  convenient  for  common  portable  use. 
(American  Blackboard  Company,  St.  Louis.) 

Maps  and  charts  are  best  arranged  on  spring  rollers  in  a 
cornice  case  which  hides  the  maps  when  rolled  up,  but  allows 
perfect  ease  in  drawing  down  whichever  one  is  needed. 

Special  Arrangements.  —  The  following  description  from 
the  Congregatio7ialist  is  fuller  than  the  notes  I  took  when 
I  visited  the  new  D wight  Place  Sunday  School  rooms  at 
New  Haven,  Connecticut :  — 

"  Among  the  features  are  many  Avonderful  contents  of 
that  double  wall,  which,  like  a  magician's  palace,  opens  its 
treasures  to  the  touch  of  secret  springs.     In  the  middle 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL   ROOMS   AND   EQUIPMENT  279 

are  four  large  crayon  boards,  which  may  be  drawn  out 
at  the  will  of  the  operator,  —  black,  blue,  green,  or  ground 
glass.  Above  this  is  a  frame  where  nestle  wonderful 
charts  and  song  rolls,  and  to  the  right  a  large  closet  where 
are  stored  more  song  rolls  hung  conveniently  for  refer- 
ence, and  drawers  for  collections,  books,  and  records. 
Here  is  a  panel  which  swings  down  and  becomes  a  baize 
board  adjustable  at  any  height  or  angle,  and  beside  it  a 
secret  treasure  house  of  objects  and  figures  to  be  exhibited 
on  it.  On  the  other  side  a  similar  panel  miraculously 
transforms  itself  into  a  sand  table,  and  adjoining  it  a 
cupboard  has  galvanized  iron  drawers  filled  with  damp 
clay  and  sand  which  may  be  used  to  illustrate  anything 
from  creation  to  the  final  judgment.  Other  panels  con- 
ceal the  music,  the  many-colored  crayons  and  all  possible 
devices  to  interest  and  instruct  the  little  folks,  who  must 
come  to  regard  this  room  as  a  veritable  paradise." 

Some  of  these  may  be  found  in  the  Westminster  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  Bloomfield,  New  Jersey,  together  with 
a  special  interesting  arrangement  of  sliding  doors. 

The  Newspaper  Exchange  is  a  table  with  raised  edges, 
placed  in  some  convenient  place  in  the  vestibule  or  other 
entrance  to  the  Sunday  School  rooms.  Over  it  is  placed 
in  large  letters  — 


NEWSPAPER  EXCHANGE 


Please  bring  the  Religious  papers,  magazines, 
books,  pamphlets 


Take  Freely  Whatever  You  Wish 


280  THE   FRONT   LINE 

This  is  free  to  everybody.  The  previous  week's  reli- 
gious papers  and  good  magazines  of  the  previous  month 
are  brought  in. 

Once  a  month  or  so  the  young  lady  who  has  it  in  charge 
sends  whatever  is  left  to  the  hospitals  or  poorhouse  or 
the  places  where  men  are  at  leisure  waiting  for  work,  as 
at  engine  houses,  electric-car  stations,  etc. 

Attendance  Tablets  are  sometimes  made  permanent  on 
one  side  of  a  blackboard.  In  other  cases  they  are  fixed 
separately  upon  the  wall.  There  are  several  varieties  of 
these,  as  well  as  of  Cradle  Rolls. 

Reference  Library.  —  This  should  be  in  the  main  room, 
free  of  access,  never  locked,  with  a  supply  of  cards  on 
which  any  one  who  takes  a  book  writes  his  name  and  the 
date.  It  contains  books  on  the  Sunday  School,  on  Teach- 
ing, on  Missions,  on  Christian  Endeavor,  on  the  Bible, 
Cyclopedias,  Concordance,  Commentaries,  etc.  It  should 
always  be  replenished  whenever  a  new  portion  of  the 
Bible  is  to  be  studied. 

Bible  Museum.  —  It  would  be  a  good  thing  for  every 
school  to  get  together  whatever  from  Oriental  countries 
illustrates  the  Bible.  In  many  cases  there  are  imitation 
coins,  collections  of  seeds,  woods,  and  flowers  from  Pales- 
tine, models  of  ancient  tombs,  of  the  Tabernacle  and  the 
Temple,  like  Fisher's  model  of  Herod's  Temple,  with  full 
description.  One  can  gradually  assemble  many  illustra- 
tive objects,  as  sandals,  rolls,  phylacteries,  shepherd's  rod 
and  staff,  clay  tablets,  seals,  coins,  grains,  woods,  ploughs, 
winnowing  fans,  etc.  I  find  a  great  many  times  when 
I  can  bring  to  the  Sunday  School  from  my  collection 
objects  of  interest  that  illustrate  the  lesson. 

A  Stereopticon  is  a  good  means  of  instructing  and  inter- 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL   ROOMS   AND   EQUIPMENT  281 

esting  the  children,  and  older  people  as  well.  It  can  be 
a  permanent  fixture,  and  wherever  there  is  electricity,  it 
can  be  run  with  ease  at  mid-day,  and  with  real  success. 
The  oxyhydrogen  lamps  will  also  show  pictures  at  the 
noon  session,  but  require  more  care  in  the  using.  Mis- 
sionary meetings,  and  special  services  and  reviews,  can 
use  this  instrument  with  great  advantage. 

Pictures.  —  The  Sunday  School  room  will  be  made  more 
attractive,  as  well  as  helpful,  by  means  of  Bible  pictures 
on  the  walls.  A  dado  of  the  penny  pictures  can  make  a 
permanent  history  of  the  life  of  Christ,  or  of  the  Acts,  or 
of  the  Old  Testament  story,  around  the  main  room,  or 
any  class  room,  but  especially  the  Primary  rooms.  They 
can  be,  if  desired,  formed  gradually  as  the  lessons  progress. 
W.  A.  Wilde  and  Company  have  a  fine  and  growing  se- 
lection of  the  best  pictures  illustrating  the  Bible. 

The  Wilde  colorgraphs  of  great  paintings  are  very 
beautiful  for  this  purpose.  A  border  of  the  Detroit  col- 
ored photographs  of  Palestine  scenes  around  one  of  my 
study  doors  has  been  greatly  admired.  The  Sunday 
School,  next  to  his  own  home,  should  be  the  most  attrac- 
tive and  homelike  place  the  child  knows. 

The  Card  System  of  Enrolment  is  the  most  convenient 
and  time-saving  method.  "  It  is  especially  handy  and 
time-saving  in  looking  up  statistics  or  keeping  track  of 
the  active  membership.  All  absentees  or  non-residents 
can  be  grouped  by  themselves,  and  the  different  grades 
may  be  classified  by  using  cards  of  different  colors,  as 
white  for  Primary,  huff  for  Intermediate,  and  blue  for 
Senior  members."  The  Pilgrim  Press,  Boston,  furnishes 
an  excellent  outfit. 

For  Individual  Classes,  both  at  the  school  or  at  class 


282  THE   FRONT   LINE 

gatherings  during  the  week,  there  are  many  interesting 
helps  which  can  combine  interest  with  instruction  in  the 
Bible. 

Stereoscopic  Photographs  are  again  becoming  popular, 
because  the  pictures  are  incomparably  better  than  those 
of  a  few  years  ago.  They  are  such  lifelike  representa- 
tions of  the  places  where  our  Lord  lived  and  walked  and 
taught,  the  figures  and  the  scenes  are  brought  out  so 
clearly,  that  it  is  almost  the  same  as  if  we  were  actually 
travelling  in  the  Holy  Land.  People  are  more  and  more 
waking  up  to  the  likeness  of  the  experiences  that  may  be 
gained  in  the  stereoscope  to  those  gained  by  viewing  them 
on  the  spot.  The  Underwoods  of  New  York  have  some 
special  features  in  this  line. 

Games,  such  as  the  Game  of  the  Kings  of  the  Jews  (C.  F. 
Marston,  Worcester,  Massachusetts),  and  Games  of  Bible 
Characters  (Colby,  Chicago),  will  in  a  few  evenings  give 
a  better  preparation  than  years  of  ordinary  Bible  study 
under  any  system  of  lessons  in  the  Sunday  School  half 
hour,  for  such  Bible  knowledge  as  is  given  in  the  favorite 
tests  which  show  up  the  ignorance  of  the  Bible  among  the 
young  people  of  to-day. 

The  Royal  Scroll  accomplishes  the  same  purpose  of 
intimate  acquaintance  with  the  facts  and  characters  of  the 
Bible,  for  the  family  circle  and  meetings  of  the  class.  I 
know  children  who  have  actually  worn  one  out  by  con- 
stant and  interested  use.  It  is  an  ingenious  and  complete 
arrangement  of  maps,  colored  pictures,  charts,  descriptive 
of  customs  and  modes  of  dress  in  Palestine,  and  an  illumi- 
nated Life  of  Christ.  Bishop  Vincent  voices  the  senti- 
ment of  many  when  he  says :  "  It  is  a  picture  gallery,  a 
panorama,  a  guide   to   sacred  geography,  a   treasury  of 


SUNDAY   SCHOOL   ROOMS   AND   EQUIPMENT  283 

sacred  art,  a  text-book,  an  atlas,  a  lesson-help,  all  in  one. 
It  is  the  most  ingenious,  charming,  and  complete  appa- 
ratus ever  offered  for  the  home." 

Teachers'  Roll  of  Bible  Illustrations  embodies  in  an  ex- 
cellent form,  for  use  in  the  Sunday  School  class,  the  long 
list  of  illustrations  made  for  Eyre  and  Spottiswoode's 
famous  Variorum  Bible. 

Working  Methods.  —  For  a  large  number  of  administra- 
tive methods,  and  specimens  of  printed  matter  in  actual 
use  in  progressive  Sunday  Schools,  in  various  parts  of  the 
country,  such  as  "Ways  of  awakening  and  maintaining 
interest  in  Bible  study,"  "  Ways  of  securing  regular  and 
punctual  attendance,"  "Ways  of  reaching  and  securing 
new  scholars,"  "  Ways  of  securing  Church  attendance," 
etc.,  see  Mead's  Modern  Methods  in  Sunday  School. 

Ruskin's  Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture^  the  lamp  of 
Sacrifice,  the  lamp  of  Truth,  the  lamp  of  Power,  the  lamp 
of  Beauty,  the  lamp  of  Life,  the  lamp  of  Memory,  the 
lamp  of  Obedience,  are  excellent  lamps,  in  the  light  of 
which  Sunday  School  architecture  may  attain  its  highest 
usefulness  and  glory. 


INDEX 


"  A  diamond  in  the  rough  "     .... 

Advantages  of  the  International  System 

Adverse  circumstances,  good  results  .     • 

^schines  :  replj'  to  Demosthenes      .     . 

"  A  fleck  of  rust  on  a  flawless  blade  "     . 

Agitation,  Value  of 

"  A  great  meeting,  a  king  to  select  " 

Aim  of  the  Sunday  School 

Akron  plan :  S.  S.  buildings 

Akron  plan  modified 261- 

American  Bible  League,  The      .... 

American  Revision,  The 

Application  of  the  lesson.  Methods  of     . 

Application,  Personal,  to  scholar  alone  . 

Aristotle  on  learning  by  teaching  .     .     . 

Arnold  :  Light  of  Asia 

Arnold  of  Eugby 

Art  of  teaching,'Teacher  trained  in  the  . 

Assistant  teacher,  Who  is  my    .... 

Authorized  Version,  The 

Axtell :  Organized  Sunday  School  .    . 

"  A  worn-out  Dogma  died  "       .     .     .     . 

Baraca  Movement,  The 

Best  machinery  for  education  of  chil- 
dren   

Bible  History  as  affected  by  the  Higher 
Criticism 

Bible  Museum 

Bibles  and  Quarterlies  in  the  class      .     . 

Bibles  for  children 

Bibles,  Marvellous  increase  of    ...     . 

Bible  study  by  the  historic  method    •     . 

Bible  study  in  different  languages  .     .     . 

Bible  study:  the  magnet  method  .     .     . 

Bible  Study  Union  System 

Bible  Teachers'  Training  School     .     .     . 

Bible,  The :  abiding  in  its  character- 
forming  elements 

Biblical  allusions  in  literature    .     .     .     . 

Black,  Rev.  Hugh,  on  Will-training   .     . 

Blackall,  C.  H.,  Architect.    Plans       269 

Blackall,  C.  R.,  D.D.,  new  courses     .     . 
Ibid.,  Our  Sunday  School  Work 

Blackboards      

Boer  War,  Story  of 

Briscoe,  Rev.  J.  T.,  on  the  S.  S.  System 
of  to-day 

Brown,  Marianna  C,  Ph.D.,  on  produc- 
ing religious  impression.  In  S.  S. 
Movements  in  America    .     .    .     . 

Bryce  on  the  Constitution  of  the  U.S.     . 

Burton  and  Mathews,  Profs. :  Prin- 
ciples and  Ideals     ...    91,  139, 

Busy  Men  and  Women :  How  they  can 
best  prepare  their  S.  S.  lesson 

Butler,  Dean  Alford  A.,  D.D.,  on  know 

ing  men  as  well  as  books     .     .     . 

Ibid.,  on  worship  in  the  S.  S.    .     . 

Capen,  Hon.  S.  B.,  on  the  character 
forming  power  of  the  teacher's  life 


Card  system  of  enrolment  .....  281 
Caricatures  of  the  Sunday  School  ...  92 
Carlyle    on    enthusiasm  :     {^Frederick 

the  Great) 18 

Ibid.,  on  the  personal  power  of  the 

teacher 105 

Cathedral  glass.  The  glory  of  old    .     .     .  210 

Changes  :  not  too  sudden 25 

Character-forming  truths 103 

Characteristics  of  best  lesson  system      .  154 

Character-training 103 

Cheyne  :  objects  of  the  Higher  Criticism  198 
Chicago      University      Press,      Graded 

Course 142 

Children  need  the  best  equipment  .  .  253 
Choice,  Supreme,  determines  character  .  97 
Choice,  The  Supreme,  made  in  view  of 

some  small  act 100 

Christian  Endeavor 13,  193 

Church,  a  power-house 102 

Churches  and    Sunday  Schools    should 

have    the    best    equipment    in    the 

community 253 

Clark,  Rev.  F."E.,  D.D.  :  his  welcomes  .    52 

Classes,  Number  in 32 

Classes,  Value  of  small 115 

Class,  Good  order  in 57 

Class,  How  to  govern  a 56 


Class-room  doors  and  partitions 
Classrooms:  a  picture  of  one  .  . 
Class  rooms,  bj^  portieres .... 
Class  rooms.  Substitutes  for  .  . 
Class.  Work  for,  outside  of  the  S.  S. 
Coe,  Prof. :  test  of  College  students 
Colored  photographs  of  Holy  Land 
Colorgraphs  of  celebrated  paintings 
'Come  and  wander  with  me " 


273,  274 
52 
274^  275 
.  .  275 
.  .  59 
.  .  163 
.  .  281 
.  .  281 
.     .  235 


Conservative  vs.  Radical 25 

Cotistructive  Bible  Studies  ....  142 
Convention    at    Jerusalem :    resolution 

on  teacher-training 91 

Correspondence  Schools 193 

Courses  of  lectures  in  churches      .    .     .193 

Courses  of  study 139,  144 

Courses  of  study  for  teacher-training  .  119 
Criticism  a  sign  of  progress  .  .  .  .22,  180 
Criticism  of  the  Sunday  School,  Value  of    21 

Cross-fertilization 14 

Crypt  Conference,  The  :  Addresses  .  .  109 
Crvstallizing  thought  bv  talking  ...  88 
Curtis,  Geo.  William:  Frue  and  I    .     .  207 

Decision  day 64,  100 

De  Garmo  :  Interest  in  Education  .  .  41 
Delitzsch,  Prof.,  Babel  und  Bibel  .  .  211 
Departmental  S.  S.  rooms      .     .     .     266-272 

Departments  vs.  courses 131 

Devotional  exercises 33 

Devotional  reading  of  S.  S.  lesson  .  .  .  74 
Diagrams  of  modern  S.  S.  rooms  .  261-272 
Diatessarons  of  the  Gospels  .....  250 


284 


INDEX 


285 


Dickens's  Skitzlanders 27 

" Dig  channels  for  the  stream  of  Love"  124 

Discouraged  teacher,  The 67 

Driver,  Prof.,  on  Old  Testament  history  199 
Drummond,  Prof.  Henry,  on  the  aim  of 

the  Sunday  School   ' 97 

D wight  Place  Sunday  School      .     .     .     .278 

Education  and  the  new  life 98 

Education  for  the  educator 90 

Eiffel  Tower,  Vision  from 118 

Eliot,  Pres.,  on  the  teacher  problem  .  .91 
Emerson  on  "glittering  generahties  "  .  90 
Encouragement  for  those  who  have  few 

advantages 254 

Enrolment,  Card  system  of 281 

Enthusiasm  for  education 18 

Episcopal  Ch.,  Textbooks  and  S3'stems  .  155 

Ep worth  Leagues 193 

Equipment  of  the  Sunday  School   .     .     .  252 

Evolution  of  God's  people 216 

Examination  tests 167 

Exhibits,  Value  of 258 

Experiments  :  percentage  that  succeed  .  14 
Extension  courses  for  lay  students  .  .  191 
Farrar  on  Urim  and  Thummim  .  .  .  230 
Fergusson,  Kev.  E.  Morris,  on  gradation  129 

Ihid.,  on  S.  S.  progress 185 

Ibid.,  on  S.  S.  rooms 266 

Fine  churches  and  poor  S.  S.  rooms  .  .  252 
Fiske,  John  :  Critical  Period  of  United 

States  History 44 

Ibid.,  Story  of  rising  and  setting  sun    44 
Flexibility  of  the  Sunday  School     ...    39 
Forbush,  W.  B. :  The  Boy  Problem  .  32,  99 
Forefathers  of  Boston  and  religious  edu- 
cation     95 

•'  For  the  heart  grows  rich  in  giving  "     .  124 

Fountain  Experiment,  My 71 

Framework  of  the  lesson,  How  to  make    80 

Frog,  Experiment  with  a 101 

Front  Line,  The:  definition 11 

Front  Line,  Power  of  the 13,  16 

Games  for  Bible  study       282 

Gates  of  Paradise,  Fragments  of  ...  37 
Geography,  Use  of,  in  teaching  .  .  81-83 
Gideon  and  his  three  hundred    ....     83 

"Give  us  the  music" 67 

Goethe's  Tale  of  Tales 226 

Good  results  under  disadvantages  .      53,  254 
Gordon,   Rev.  A.  J.,   D.D. :  Dream  in 
IIoic  Christ  came  to  Church      .    .    93 

Graded,  Pupils  are  to  be 128 

Graded,  Teachers  to  be 130 

Grades  must  be  flexible 136 

Grading,  A  study  in 125 

Grading  by  the  Grammar  School  grades  136 

Grading,  Necessity  for 125 

Grading,  Schemes  of 132 

Grading,  What  is 127 

Grading,  What  is  new  in 125 

Gratuitous  instruction.  Value  of  .  .  .  112 
Greek  legend  of  the  founding  of  Thebes  218 
Green  :  History  of  the  English  People  16 
Groser,  W.  H.  :  Hundred  Years'  Wort 

for  the  Children 108 

Grown  people.  Inducing,  to  attend  S.  S.   134 


Gulick,  Prof.  L.  H.,  on  the  character- 
forming  power  of  the  teacher's  life  .  104 
"  Gyascutus  has  broke  loose.  The  "    .     .  200 
Hadley,  Pres.  Arthur  T.,  on  the  personal 

power  of  the  teacher 105 

Hale,  Kev.  E.  E.  :  famous  bon  ')iiot    .     .  181 

Ibid.,  How  Christ  came  to  Boston  .  93 
Hamill,  Prof.  H.  M. :  TheS.S.  Teacher  123 
Harris,  W.  T. :  experiments  in  education    14 

i&/(Z.,  Self-activity  in  education  .  ,  .  102 
Haslett :  Pedagogical  Bible  School  .  128 
Hawthorne:  3Iossesfrom  an  Old  Manse  105 

76i(?.,  Story  of  the  birthmark  .  .  .138 
Health  catching  instead  of  disease  .  .  106 
Helps,  Arthur:  Friends  in  Council     .  179 

Helps,  True  use  of 75-79,  157 

Higher  Criticism,  Attitude  of  the  S.  S.  to  205 
Higher  Criticism,  The  present  situation  197 
Historic  method  of  Bible  study      .     .     .  196 

Historic  method.  Value  of 208 

History  of  mankind  an  evolution    .     .     .215 
Hittite  sacred  stone  at  Hamath  ....  196 
Hodge,  R.  M.,  D.D.  :  extension  courses    191 
Holmes,  O.  W.  :  Autocrat  of  the  Breaks 
fast  Table 86,235 

Ibid.,  on  analogies  in  nature      .     .     .  235 

Ibid.,  the  three  Johns  and  Thomases    225 

Home  Department 38 

Home,  Prof. :  Philosophy  of  Education    17 

Ibid.,  on  progress  in  knowledge  .  .  17 
House  claimed  by  a  thief  in  Palestine     .  175 

Ideals,  The  power  of 19 

Ideal  version  of  the  Bible 250 

"  If  I  could  see  as  in  truth  they  be  "  .  .  225 
"  If  only  we  strive  to  be  pure  and  true  "  118 
Ignorance  of  the  Bible  and  its  remedy    .  159 

Index  Bible,  The 237 

Ingelow,  The  Monitions  of  the  Unseen  206 
Interest  in  Bible  study.  Signs  of  growing  179 

Interest  in  education 40 

Interlinear  Parallel  Bible,  Holman      .     .  246 
International  Bible  Reading  Association   191 
International  Executive  Committee,  Ex- 
tensive organization  of 183 

International     Lessons,     a     connected 

scheme 152 

International  Lessons,  graded  in  material 

as  well  as  treatment 150 

International  Les.   Svs.  :    What   is   the 

139,  148 
International  System,  Advantages  of.  .  153 
International  System,  Criticism  of  .  140,  144 
Introducing  a  new  measure,  Best  way  of  13 
"  It  might  have  been  worse  "  ....  148 
"  I  wonder  if  he  remembers  "  ....  63 
James,  Prof  William :  applying  the  lesson    66 

Ibid.,  Psychology    .    '. 66 

Ibid.,  Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psychol- 
ogy   66 

Kant's  Educational  Theory  ....  114 
Keedy,  Rev.  J.L.,  on  a  graded  curriculum  158 

Kelman's  The  Holy  Land 175 

Kramer,  Geo.  A.,  Architect.  Plans  261,  272 
Kumler  Memorial  S.  S.  rooms  .     .     .     .267 

Learning  by  heart 230 

Lectures  on  the  Bible,  Courses  of .     ,     .  193 


286 


INDEX 


Leigh  Hunt :  The  Indicator  ....  156 
Lesson,  Forming  the  plan  of  the  ...  84 
Lessons  graded  iu  material  and  treatment  12S 

Literary  study  of  the  Bible 222 

Literary  test  in  iSe^ec^  JVo^es  .  .  .  .168 
Lutheran  General  Council,  graded  system  141 
Maclaren,  Ian,  in  the  British  Weekly    .      5 

Madame  Koland  on  liberty 207 

Magazine  articles,  How  to  use  ....  237 

Magnetic,  Making  the  mind 87 

Maps  and  charts 81,  278 

Margins,  Use  of,  in  the  Bible  ....  236 
Marvellous  work  with  poor  machinery    .  254 

Matthew  Arnold :  poem 19 

McCabe,  Chaplain  :  letter  to  Ingersoll    .  193 
McKinney,  A.  H.,  Ph.D.,  on  great  learn- 
ing t's.  the  art  of  teaching    .     .     .     .109 
Mead's  Modern  Methods  in  S.  S.  Work    68 

Meigs,  Rev.  C.  D.  :  poem 59 

"  Meine  Trubsal  war  mein  Gliick  "  .  .  40 
Memorizing  the  Scriptures,  Value  of  282-234 
"  Men  take  the  pure  ideals  of  their  souls  "  20 
Meredith,  Margaret,   on    grown   people 

and  the  Sunday  School 134 

Merriam,  Prof.  Alexander  R.,  on  religious 
impression  in  the  Sunday  School      .     61 

Methods  of  Bible  Study 195 

Miller,  Hugh :  My  Schools  and  School- 
masters      48 

Miller,  Lewis,  inventor  of  Akron  plan  .  259 
Model  Sunday  School  buildings  ....  259 
Modern  American  Bible,  The,  .  .  .  248 
Modern  methods.  Mead's  collection  of  .  283 
Modern  Reader's  Bible,  The  ....  246 

Moral  mothering 114 

Moulton,    Prof.    Richard    G. :    Modern 

Reader's  Bible 78,  222,  246 

Mr.  Titbottom's  Spectacles 207 

Miinsterberg,  Prof.:  American  Traits  91 
"  My  double  and  how  he  undid  me  "  .  .  50 
Nash,  Prof.   Henry  S. :  History  of  the 

Higher  Criticism 200 

Near-sighted  spectacles 226 

Newspaper  Exchange 279 

New  Testament  in  Modern  English  .  249 
New  Testament  in  Modern  Speech  .  .  248 
Next  step  forward  in  religious  education  183 

Old  buildings  improved 258 

One  child  or  two  adults 253 

Ordinary  person.  Power  of  the  ....    48 

Organized  classes 31 

Oriental  Potentate,  Dream  of    ....    25 

Original,  How  to  become 79 

"  O  that  I  knew  how  all  thy  lights  "  .  .  222 
Parables  of  the  Pounds  and  the  Talents    71 

Paragraphing  the  Bible 244 

Paralyzed  in  the  realm  of  motives  .  .  .102 
Parkhurst,  Dr.  C.  H.,  on  the  personal 

power  of  the  teacher 105 

Partitions  between  class  rooms      .     .     .  273 
Patterson  Du  Bois:   The  Point  of  Con- 
tact in  Teaching 5 

Patton,  Pres.  F.  L.,  on  Biblical  criticism  189 
Payson  on  the  blessedness  of  preaching  .    69 
Pennsylvania    State    S.   S.  Association, 
Manual  of 131 


Persian  princes,  Training  of       ....  105 

Personally  conducted 77 

Pictures,  Wilde's  penny 281 

Plans  for  large  schools 266-272 

Plans  for  small  schools 261-265 

Polyglot  Bibles 249 

Portidres  for  class  rooms 279 

Preparation  of  the  teacher,  Need  of   .     .45 
Preparing  the  lesson.  Time-saving  pro- 
cess in 73 

Preston,  Mrs.  Margaret:  poem  ...  20 
Prince,  John  T.,  Massachusetts  Board  of 

Education,  on  order  in  the  S.  S.  .  65 
Proctor,    Prof.    Richard  A. :    Familiar 

Science  Studies 35 

Pycroft  on  reading  English  history     ,     .  250 

Queen  Bee  :  how  evolved 180 

Ramsay,  Prof.  Wm.  M./  on  holding  fast 

to  the  scientific  principle  ....  214 
Ra})pacini's  daughter.  Story  of  .  ,  .  .  105 
Reading  the  Bible  through  .  .  .  177,  220 
"  Reels  not  in  storm  of  warring  Avords  "  212 

Reference  Library 118,  280 

Religious  Education  Ass'n.  143,  154,  186-188 
Religious  impression,  How  to  effect  .  .  61 
Remodelled  S.  S.  rooms  ....  263-266 
Renan  on  the  twentieth  century     ...     16 

Resolve,  Acting  on 67 

"Restless  Club,  The" 21 

Revelation,   Different  effects  of,    when 
based  on  myth  and  on  fact  ....  203 

Reviews 35 

Revised  Version  of  the  Bible  ....  241 
Revisions,   Hindrances  to    the    popular 

acceptance  of 243 

Revivals,  Necessity  of 101 

Roads,  Rev.  Charles,  on  graded  teachers  131 
Rogers,  Prof,  on  Bahel  und  Bibel     .    .211 

Rolling  partitions 273 

Rome  on  the  parlor  floor 82 

Rooms  for  the  Sunday  School,  The  best  252 
Roosevelt,  Pres. :  address  to  a  school     .     97 

Royal  scroll,  The 282 

Ruskin :  Modern  Painters 40 

J  bid.,  on  public  buildings      ....  256 

Ibid.,  on  word  study 228 

Ibid.,  Sesame  and  Lilies      ....  22S 

Ibid.,  Experience  in  reading  Bible  .     .  233 

Sanders,  Prof.,  an  the  aim  of  the  S.  S.    .    97 

Sanderson,  Prof.,  on  character-forming  .     99 

Schauffler,  Rev.  A.  F.,  D.D.  :  Pastoral 

Leadership  of  the  S.  S.      .  49,  165,  170 

Ibid.,  Ways  of  Working 138 

Schemes  of  grading 132 

Scholarly  vs.  the  teaching  temperament  4 
Scholars  :  getting  to  study  the  lesson  .  58 
School  of  Christ,  Apostles  in  the  .  .  .107 
Schools  and  schoolmasters,  My  .  .  .  .  6,  7 
Scripture,  Prof.  E.  W. :  Thinking,  Feel- 
ing, Doing 101 

Search,   Prof.  Preston  W. :    The  Ideal 

School 14,  186 

Seatingof  the  Sunday  School     .     .     .    .  276 
Seeing  visions  and  dreaming  dreams  .     .     18 
Seeley,  Prof.  L.  :   Foundation  of  Edu- 
cation    57,  90 


INDEX 


287 


Seeley,  Prof.  L. .  on  good  order  ...  57 
Seven  fears  changed  into  seven  joys  .  .  179 
Shakespeare  class,  Methods  of  ....  88 
Signs  of  the  times,  hopeful  for  the  S.  S.  21 
Silliman,  Prof.,  Story  concerning  ...  16 
Skim-milk  transformed  into  cream  .  .'  94 
Slocum,  Pres.  Wm.  F.,  advice  to  visitors 

to  St.  Louis  fair 221 

Smith,    Prof.    Geo.    Adam,    Hitstorical 
Geography  of  the  Holy  Land    .    .    83 
Ibid.,    3fodern    CriticiHin    and   the 

Preaching  of  the  Old  Testament    .  204 
IMd.,  Effect  of  the  Higher  Criticism  .  197 
Smith,  Rev.  Wm.  Walter,  M.D.,  Sunday 

School  Teaching 155 

Special  S.  S.  arrangements  .  .  .  .  '  278 
Spencer,  Herbert,  Social  Statics  .  *    98 

Stalker,      Rev.      James,      D.D.,       The 
Preacfier  and  his  Models  .     .  122 

Statistics,  Misleading .'    .*  181 

Stead,  If  Christ  came  to  Chicago     '.    '.    93 

Stereographs 282 

Stereopticon  for  the  Sundav  School  "  *  281 
St.  John,  Prof.  E.  P.,  on  gi-ading   .     126,  128 

Stockport  Sunday  School 272 

Study  of  particular  books  or  periods  , 
Summer  Assemblies  and  Schools  .  , 
Sunday  School  a  Missionary  School  . 
Sunday  School  and  the  Home  .  . 
Sunday  School  an  evangelizing  power 
Sunday  School  buildings,  Akron  plan 
Sunday  School  Cooperation  .... 
Sunday  School  for  the  whole  church  . 
Sunday  School,  largest  in  the  world  . 
S.  S.  rooms  and  equipment  .... 
S.  S.  rooms :  modified  Akron  plan  '. 
Sunday    School    steadily    increasing    in 

numbers 181 

Sunday  School,  Supreme  aim  "of,  Teaclier- 

training  depends  on 96 

Sunday  School  teacher.  Training  for  '.  \  103 
Sun.  Sch.  the  right  hand  of  the  church  .'  42 
Supplemental  lessons  and  reviews  ...  35 
Swift,  Dean  :  Illustration  on  reform   .    '.  126 

Tables  for  classes \  276 

Ta  pathemata  mathemata  .    .    .     ^    !    71 

Teacher  and  his  class .'47 

Teachers,  Concerning  paid  .  .  .  .  in 
Teachers  in  the  S.  S.,  Who  should  be  11  i,  113 

Teachers' meetings 88  121 

Teachers'  meetings,  Mr.  Chas.  G.  Trum- 
bull's plan  for 122 

Teacher's  Pastorate,  The  ...'."'  31 
Teachers,  Poor:  What  to  do  with  them  117 
Teacher's  preparation.  Necessity  of  .  72 
Teacher's,  tools,  The     .......     52 


Teacher  trained  in  knowledge  of  Bible 

Teacher-training 

Teacher-training,  Growing  interest  in     .' 
Teacher-training  in  the  art  of  teaching    . 
Teacher-training  in  study  of  the  child     . 
leacher-training,  Present  status  of 
Teacher-training,  The  church  should  pro- 

vide  the  means  for 
Teacher-training,  The  kind  of, 'depends 

on  the  aim  of  the  Sunday  School      . 


95 


Teaching,  Learning  by 123 

Teaching,  Two  mental  processes  in    .    1    64 

Temple  Bible,  The    . 247 

Tennyson  :  The  Ancient  Sage  .  .  .212 
Test  of  a  Bible  class  in  the  Olivet  S.  S.  164 
Test  of  Bible  knowledge  by  Dr.  Munhall  172 
Test    of    Bible    knowledge    by    Pres. 

Thwing '  igo 

Test  of  boys  in  New  York  City  .  .  .'  171 
Test  of  college  students  bv  Prof.  Coe  .'  163 
Test  of  students  at  Hampton     .     .  163 

Tests,  False,  of  a  system  .  .  .  .  173-177 
!!  J^^''^  breaks  a  yet  more  glorious  day  "  194 
They  must  upward  still  and  onward  "  28 
"  This  maple  ridge  shall  Horeb  be  "  .  84 
Thomas,   Mr.   Joseph    C:    The    Index 

Bible 237 

Thwing,  Pres.  Charles  F.,  on  'the  best 
thing  college  does  for  a  man    .     .        I05 

Tom  Brown  at  Oxford       80 

Training  by  specimen  teaching  .  '.  !  119 
Training  of  teachers.  Provision  made  for    31 

Training  of  the  will 99 

Trench,  Archbishop  :  poem  ....'.  124 

Triumph  of  the  right  spirit  over  obstacles  255 
Trumbull,  Charles  G.  :  S.  S.  Times    . 
Twentieth  Century  Ne^v  Testament     '. 
Two  camels,  Browning's  parable  of  the  . 
Tyng,   Rev.  Stephen,  D.D.,  address  in 
H.  W.  Beecher's  church      .... 

Unconscious  cerebration   ...... 

United  States  Bureau  of  Education  :  Rel 

port  on  Sunday  Schools 

Urlm    and    Thummim :    "  Lights    and 

Truths" 230 

Valk,  Lawrence  B.,  Architect :  Plan  !  .'  262 
Vincent,   Bp.:    The   Modern   Sunday 

School 83, 120 

Vmcent,  Prof.  Marvin  R. :    That  Mon- 
ster the  Higher  Critic    ....       200 
Waters,  Mr.  Charles,  Hon.  See.  of  the 

International  Bible  Readers'  Assoc.  191 
Wells,  Prof.  A.  R. :  S.  S.  Success  .  .  76,  86 
Wendell  Phillips,  on  agitation  ....  213 
What  Christ  would  see  in  the  S.  S.  .  94 
White,  Wilbert  W.,  D.D.:  Bible  Teach- 
ers' Training  School 190 

Whitney,  Prof.  H.  M. :  Bible  translations  239 

/fv/cA,  paragraphing  the  Bible     .     .     .244 

Ibid.,  personal  power  of  the  teacher  .  105 

Whittler:  Chapel  of  the  Hermits      .    .    83 

Will,  The  training  of  the 99-102 

Wilson,  Pres.  Robert:  Biblical  criticism  189 
Wood,  Prof.  Irving  F.,  on  grading  .  .  133 
Word  studies.  Examples  of  .  .  .  228-229 
Word  studies:  The  Literary  man's  way  228 
Word  studies  :  The  Mining  way  .  .  .228 
Word  studies  :  The  Poet's  way  .  .  .227 
Word  studies :  The  Scientist's  way  .  .  227 
Working  methods,  in   Mead's  3Iodern 

Methods 283 

Wright.  William  Burnet,  D.D. :  Master 

and  Men 229 

Young  Churchman  Co. :  graded  courses  141 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  .  192 
Young  People's  Unions 193 


122 

247 

75 

253 
85 

112 


REVISED   AND   ENLARGED 


WAYS  OF  WORKING 

OR,    HELPFUL    HINTS    TO    SUNDAY- 
SCHOOL    WORKERS    OF    ALL    KINDS 

By  Rev.  A.  F.  Schauffler,  D.D. 
232  pp.     Cloth,  $1.00 


The  new  edition  contains  a  chapter  on  the  Relation  of  the  Pastor  to 
the  Sunday  School,  a  supplementary  chapter  on  The  Blackboard  (illus- 
trated), and  one  on  the  Home  Department.  Everybody  should  have 
this  book.  It  covers  every  phase  of  Sunday-school  work  in  a  clear, 
instructive  manner,  and  cannot  fail  to  be  of  marked  benefit  to  every 
worker.  It  has  received  the  highest  commendations  from  the  relig- 
ious press  and  the  leading  Sunday-school  men.  Below  we  give  a 
proof  of  them. 

*'  The  appearance  of  a  really  helpful  manual  for  Sunday-school  teachers 
or  superintendents  is  a  noteworthy  event.  Dr.  Schauffler  has  given  us  the 
ripe  results  of  his  experience  as  superintendent  and  a  teacher  of  teachers.  He 
takes  up  the  various  phases  of  a  superintendent's  work,  and  shows  what 
constitutes  success,  how  success  is  often  lost,  and  how  it  may  be  won." — 
^.  S.   Times. 

"  This  is  a  capital  book.  So  far  as  the  teacher  and  the  method  go,  it 
leaves  nothing  unsaid.  Dr.  Schauffler's  book  is  the  very  best  book  for 
teachers,  and  on  teacher's  methods,  that  we  have  seen." — The  Indepe7idejit, 
New  York. 

"  It  unlocks  the  door  to  the  treasure-house  of  Sunday-school  success." — 
F.  N.  Peloubet,  D.  D. 

"The  best  all-around  book  for  a  Sunday-school  worker  I  know  of." — 
Marion  Lawrence,  Sec'y  Ohio  State  S.  S.  Association. 

"  Cannot  fail  to  be  of  value  in  the  hands  of  all  Sunday-school  workers." 
—  W.  H.  Hall,  Sec'y  of  Conn.  State  S.  S.  Association. 

"  Dr.  A.  F.  Schaufifier,  who  is  widely  known  as  one  of  the  most  expert 
and  distinguished  Sunday-school  men  of  our  time,  has  prepared  a  book  en- 
titled '  Ways  of  Working.' 

^  "  As  the  title  suggests,  it  is  a  statement  of  methods,  and  abounds  in  prac- 
tical suggestions  concerning  all  departments  of  Sunday-school  work,  the 
duties  of  every  officer,  and  all  particulars  which  are  likely  to  suggest  them- 
selves. It  is  based  upon  long  and  varied  personal  experience  and  observa- 
tion. It  is  written  in  a  clear,  simple,  telling  fashion,  and  will  take  rank  at 
once  in  Sunday-school  literature  as  a  standard  publication." — The  Congre- 
gationalist. 


W.  A.  WILDE  COMPANY 

BOSTON    AND    CHICAGO 


^ir"iii^M?im  iirn,?.'??'^^'  Seminary  Libraries 


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